


Ending the War

by YouCantKeepMeDown



Series: Ending the War - series [1]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Enemies to Friends, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Guilt, M/M, Slave Collars, Slow Burn, Talk about war, because i know shit about star wars tech, bonding over wanting the same person dead, clones are people too and having them fight in a war was morally wrong, past traumas, philosophy talk, probably questionable description of star wars tech, talk about the force, they talk a lot in general sorry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-11
Updated: 2020-04-16
Packaged: 2021-02-28 01:34:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 21
Words: 23,661
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22665589
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YouCantKeepMeDown/pseuds/YouCantKeepMeDown
Summary: Technically Obi-Wan is supposed to hide on Tatooine and have an eye on young Luke Skywalker. But he's been fighting a war for so long, he doesn't know how to stop. One more small mission can't hurt, right?
Relationships: Obi-Wan Kenobi/Darth Maul
Series: Ending the War - series [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1691617
Comments: 170
Kudos: 420
Collections: The Best Star Wars Fanfictions (always including Obi-Wan)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, first of all: It all started with me telling a friend that I like that trope where enemies have to suddenly work together to achieve a common goal. And a while later I suddenly got a link to an Obi-Wan/Darth Maul fanfic in my messages, and I went: "I hadn't considered this so far, but it looks very relevant to my interests."
> 
> And then I discovered that not much fanfic for that ship exists that isn't just straight up porn. So I guess I had to write something.
> 
> If you found this fanfic because you like Clone Wars: I'm so so sorry. I watched only bits and pieces of Clone Wars. I might've gotten things wrong, but I'm referencing events that I looked up in Wookiepedia now and then. In general, please don't expect me to stick to canon too closely.
> 
> This story is set at some point between the prequels and the original trilogy. Closer to the prequels.

Obi-Wan shouldn’t be here. That’s the thought that goes around and around in his head while he hurries from cover to cover in the Star Destroyer’s hangar he’d managed to land in. He should be on Tatooine, hiding, waiting. But this opportunity had quite literally fallen into his lap. A crashed imperial shuttle in the desert, on it not only very recent security codes that could get him interesting places, but also a bit of communication about the construction of a hideout for the Emporer. 

A hideout that the rebellion should learn about. If he can just figure out where exactly it is.

So Obi-Wan had taken a short break from the desert. Just to gather a bit of information, nothing more. There is no need for Bail Organa to send someone else. That would’ve just made things too complicated.

Repairing the shuttle hadn’t taken long, getting here hadn’t either. And now he is en route to a console to type those lucky security codes in, to see what he can uncover.

It takes him a while to sense the other presence on the ship, one that’s sneaking around just as he is. It’s a powerful presence in the force, but he’s almost missed it, since it’s hidden well from spying eyes. He only discovers it, because it is familiar, linked to so many painful memories that he struggles to keep his Jedi calm for a moment as soon as it hits him.

Darth Maul.

As soon as Obi Wan thinks that name, he feels the force around his old enemy shifting. He’s sensed him too. There is a bit of hesitation, and then Maul’s force signature shrinks even more, barely perceptable now even when you know what you’re looking for. Interesting.

Obi Wan knows of course, that Maul isn’t working for this new Empire. There’s no love lost between him and his old master. But what is the Sith doing here then? Gathering information himself? What for? And is it wise to continue the mission under these circumstances?

Well, Maul obviously doesn’t want to be discovered, so he probably won’t risk attacking Obi-Wan. Maybe they can live and let each other live. Just for once. And the piece of information Obi-Wan is looking for could be very important for Bail Organa’s resistance movement. It’s worth the risk.

Obi Wan presses on.

* * *

He finds the perfect console in the back of a data storage room, half hidden behind pillars full with computer banks. What he also finds there is a dark figure, typing hastily.

“Access denied,” flashes on the screen, and Obi-Wan can hear Darth Maul curse under his breath. 

He stays behind his pillar, watching. The Sith tries another code, followed by another curse when this one doesn’t work either. And by now, Obi-Wan feels a bit like cursing too. If there are too many wrong codes, someone will get suspicious, and then his own chances of discovering anything will be gone.

That’s why he steps out from behind the pillar, trying to look like he just strolled in. Making an entrance is a habit he developed from working with always dramatic Anakin. “Need a hand?”

Darth Maul whirls around, lightsaber in his hand in an instant. He fixes Obi-Wan with a glare. Staring into those yellow eyes still brings back memories from the first time they met, even after all these years. The barriers between them, in that long corridor, Darth Maul bathed in their red tint while he paced, eager to continue the fight. Eager to kill Qui-Gon.

But now the Sith doesn’t even activate his weapon. “Kenobi,” he says instead. “I thought I sensed you. I hoped I was wrong. I have no time to spare to kill you right now.”

Letting the threat bounce off is easy, Obi-Wan is way too used to them as way of greeting. “Well, I’m happy to hear that, since my schedule is also rather full at the moment.” He lifts both hands to show that he’s not reaching for his own lightsaber. “I’m not here to fight.”

Maul follows every tiny movement through narrowed eyes. “What do you want, then?”

“The same as you. Information.” That much seems obvious after all. “And I’d appreciate, if you didn’t set off any alarms before I’m done here.”

For a moment Maul just stares at him, and Obi-Wan can feel the force shift again, probing against his mind. Obi-Wan does his best to let his honest intentions shine through. “I have a proposal,” he continues. “I have some security codes I want to try on that console. Maybe they’re better than yours. If they are, we can both get what we want.”

Silence stretches while Maul seems to think, and Obi-Wan shoves a few tendrils of impatience down before they can even surface properly.

“How old are your codes?” Maul asks finally.

“Two days.”

More silence, then a nod and Maul steps aside. “Don’t try and cross me.”

“I’d never dream of it.”

* * *

The codes go through, and Obi-Wan breathes a bit easier. At least as easily as a Jedi can with a Sith Lord at his back. Because Darth Maul is basically hovering over his shoulder.

“Well then,” Obi-Wan asks as soon as he’s in the system, “what are you looking for?”

“Nice try, Kenobi, but I’d rather have a look myself after you’re done. Go ahead, don’t let me keep you from finishing your search.”

Obi-Wan can’t help but sigh. This was to be expected, though. None of them wants the other to learn what they’re after. “Mind taking a step back then?”

“I do mind.”

Arguing will cost too much time, so Obi-Wan just pulls a data chip from his pocket and inserts it into the console. He can have a look around and copy random information in the hope that his old enemy wont realize what he’s actually after. And even if he does, what is he going to do? Warn the guy on whose ship he’s just snooping around? From all Obi-Wan heard, Sidious had killed Maul’s brother. Maul won’t try and buy back his place at his old master’s side. More likely he’s out for revenge.

Obi-Wan focuses on the data in front of him. There’s actually a lot of interesting stuff here. Plans for some kind of new Star Destroyer. Intel on military operations. Obi-Wan copies it all. And then he finds it. A layout plan and a location. The Emperor’s hideout. There’s no time to look at it properly, but Obi-Wan can’t help the triumph and relief he feels. The risk was worth it.

Behind him, Darth Maul shifts. For a moment the Sith goes from bored and impatient to alert, but the sensation is gone so fast again that Obi-Wan isn’t sure if he’s maybe just being paranoid.

Hastily, Obi-Wan copies the data, then he moves on.

That’s when the alarms blare. “Intruder alert. All troops to hangar two.”

Hangar two. That’s exactly where Obi-Wan has left his shuttle.

And then a new set of words flashes on the screen: “Security lockdown. Access denied.”

Behind him, Maul curses, while Obi-Wan reaches for the data chip, puts it securely back into his pocket. He’s come all the way for this, he won’t leave it behind.

But when he turns, the red blade of a lightsaber is hovering inches from his throat. Darth Maul glares murder at him. “Give me that data chip.”

Oh, so Obi-Wan hasn’t imagined it. Maul is interested in the hideout too.

Carefully, Obi-Wan stretches out his senses through the force, takes in every detail of his surroundings. If need be, he can backflip to safety in a split second. But that won’t get him off this ship, now that the shuttle he came in has been discovered. “I will give you a copy of everything I found in exchange for a ride to the nearest settlement with a space port.”

Maul blinks in surprise, but he catches on with the situation pretty quickly. His lightsaber hovers a tiny bit closer, and Obi-Wan can feel the unstable energies on his skin. Instinctively, he tilts his head back a little.

“I could just kill you.”

Obi-Wan puts on a smile. “You could try it and lose valuable time in the process.”

The next moment seems to stretch into an eternity, but finally, Maul turns off his weapon, lowers the hilt. “You’ll end up dead eventually, Kenobi.”

“We all do.”

Maul growls something indistinctive, then he makes to move towards the exit. “This way. Try and keep up.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have a chapter from Maul's point of view.

It’s not just that Maul absolutely hates having a Jedi at his back, it’s this specific Jedi that makes him particularly uneasy. And it’s not the fact that Kenobi had cut him in half. Pain is something that is to be expected from life. No, what really grates on Maul’s nerves whenever he is in Kenobi’s presence is that cursed calm he radiates. It doesn’t suit him.

Back when they’d crossed lightsabers for the first time there’d been so much anger in the young padawan, so much pain from seeing his master lie dead on the floor. While Kenobi and Maul had fought, there’d been a kind of connection between them made from rage, a storm of pure emotion.

Maul likes to think back on how murder had flashed in Kenobi’s eyes. He hadn’t fought like a Jedi back then. He’d fought like a Sith, and Maul had enjoyed luring him deeper into the dark side with every step he took. But he’d failed, he’d been defeated too early. And the next time he’d seen Kenobi years later, there’d been no connection anymore. Instead, nothing but unnerving calm like a wall between them. Maul would like nothing more than to shatter it.

But right now he can’t. Right now he’s ducking into shadows while troopers hurry past them. His heart is hammering with the thrill of it all and a healthy amount of fear of being caught, and one would think that even a Jedi might feel a least some of this while they’re trying to escape from enemy territory. But no, there’s nothing but calm. Every single one of Kenobi’s movements is unhurried and precise. As if all of this is just a pleasant afternoon stroll, a sport.

Finally, they reach the airlock that Maul had broken in through. For a split second there’s a little tear in the calm when Maul takes one of the breathing masks from the emergency hatch next to the door and throws it to Kenobi. But by the time the Jedi catches, he’s gained his composure back. “I gather you parked your ship a little space walk away from here.”

Maul flashes his teeth at the Jedi, then he puts on the mask. Those things aren’t made for longer space walks. They’re made in case there’s a hull breach. But they’ll do.

Then he opens the inner door of the airlock and makes an inviting gesture. “After you.”

Kenobi huffs a laugh. “Please don’t insult my intelligence.”

Fine, it’s probably fair to suspect a trap in a situation like this. And if he could send out Kenobi into space to collect the data chip from his dead body later, he would. Maul still rolls his eyes when he steps into the airlock first.

Kenobi follows him at a few steps distance and peers out of the window in the outer door. “Where’s your ship?” His voice is dampened by his own mask.

“That asteroid there.” Maul points in the direction. It’s not far, just a long force fuelled jump. But you can’t see any ship from here. Maul had hidden it well.

There are small disturbances in Kenobi’s calm now that make Maul smile. The Jedi obviously considers his options. Maybe he could get to one of the escape pods. But that would only get him to the planet the Star Destroyer is orbiting, and as far as Maul knows that pile of rock doesn’t even have a breathable atmosphere.

Maybe he could steal a shuttle, but by now the whole ship is in lockdown. It’d take a big distraction for him to be able to take off from a hangar.

Kenobi seems to come to the same conclusion, because he nods. “Lead the way.”

Maul flashes him his teeth again, then he hits the button that opens the outer door.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come along for a space walk.

The cold silence of space engulfes Obi-Wan when the airlock doors open. He knows that somewhere on the bridge on someone’s console, an alarm will flash right now, telling them about this breach of security. And they might put two and two together. But by this point, he and Maul are hopefully already gone.

The energy field the mask projects around you is meant to keep you breathing and to keep your lungs from exploding long enough to get you to safety in case of a hull breach. It doesn’t shield from the cold, so instinctively Obi-Wan calls on the force to keep him warm. Next to him he can feel Maul do the same.

The Sith pushes himself off the edge of the airlock, and Obi-Wan follows, taking a way too big leap of faith for his liking. But Maul is out here with him, so that ship of his really has to exist.

And then Obi-Wan sees it. Not the ship itself, but a small red glowing beacon floating close to the asteroid’s surface. Behind the beacon the edges of the rock seem a bit distorted, like seen through hot air.

A cloaking device.

Maul twists around and brings his feet in front of him. Obi-Wan can see him thump against something invisible and barely has time to brace for impact and slow himself down with the force a little, before he also hits the hull of a ship. While he’s still trying to figure out what exactly he landed on, Maul types something into a number pad underneath the beacon.

Now Obi-Wan really sees it. He’s clinging to the underside of a ship that looks like a Star Courier from all he can tell. A long flat nose, and from his position Obi-Wan can also see the edges of the concave radiator panels at the side.

Right next to Obi-Wan is an airlock that Maul is opening right now. The Sith slips through, and Obi-Wan hurries to follow, hurls himself through it with the force before it can close again.

He comes up through the floor of the ship, and he has a second to adjust to that, before the artificial gravity pulls him down again. Obi-Wan lands right next to the airlock while the latch hisses shut.

On the other side of it, a flash of red catches his eye, then Darth Maul is over him.

It would’ve been nice, if they could’ve worked together without Maul trying to break their deal the first opportunity he gets, but what can you expect from Sith. Obi-Wan gets his own lightsaber up in time to catch Maul’s blow merely inches from his face. Their blades humm angrily when the Sith pushes with all his weight, and Obi-Wan holds against it. Their eyes lock through the glow of blue and red energies.

“I promised you can have a copy as soon as we’re safe,” Obi-Wan grits out against the strain of keeping Maul from burning his eyes out. “No need to kill me over it.”

“And you expect me to trust you?”

“We have the same enemy for now,” Obi-Wan tries to reason. “Or do you want Sidious to rule the galaxy?”

“I don’t care about the galaxy,” Maul spits out, “I just want him dead.”

Sith … Obi-Wan does his best to hold back an exasperated sigh. “That still means we have the same enemy. So I don’t see any reason to not give you information you can use against him.”

While Maul is hopefully busy thinking about that, Obi-Wan gives a push amplified by the force. His opponent gets thrown back, catches himself against the far wall of the ship.

Obi-Wan pulls the emergency mask from his face, throws it to the side. If they have to fight, it’s better if he can breathe freely. Opposite of him Darth Maul does the same. Obi-Wan waits for another attack, but it doesn’t come immediately.

“What were you looking for?” Maul asks instead.

When Obi-Wan hesitates, the Sith grins. “Oh, so you do understand distrust after all.”

“That’s something different! Who knows what you’re going to do with–”

“Oh, yes, of course,” Maul interrupts him. “It’s always different when you Jedi do it, isn’t it?”

What is that Sith even implying? But before Obi-Wan can get out a reply, an explosion shakes the ship.

Is someone shooting at them? For a moment they’re both busy finding their balance again. Then Maul’s gaze flits to the cockpit, back to Obi-Wan, back to the cockpit again. He wants to find out what just happened just as badly as Obi-Wan does.

Fine, Obi-Wan will show him that a Jedi can handle this kind of situation differently from the likes of him. He deactivates his lightsaber and puts it back on his belt. After a moment of hesitation, Maul does the same. Then they both run to the cockpit.

Maul glides into the pilot seat, and naturally Obi-Wan takes the one for the co-pilot. He needs a moment to make sense of the displays and controls, and another one to get used to the fact that all of them seem to be tailored to left handed people. But then he can call up the sensor data they need. “That was a TIE fighter. A second one will be in shooting range in a moment.”

“Laser canon controls to your left.” Maul is busy flipping switches, obviously preparing for takeoff. “Buy me a minute of time.”

It’s all that needs to be said. They might’ve both been fighting on different sides in the Clone Wars, but all that matters now is that they’ve both been in similar situations countless times before. They know what to do.

While Obi-Wan starts up the laser canons and targets the nearing TIE fighters, he feels the calm focus settle over him that comes so easily in battle by now. The only thing that makes it a bit harder to focus than usual is the whirlwind of dark force energies that’s Darth Maul next to him. So much anger, fear, bloodlust, all mixed together, pure chaos. Obi-Wan doesn’t understand how the Sith doesn’t drown in it, how he can still function, let alone draw power from all of this.

But on the outside, Darth Maul seems just as focused as Obi-Wan. A moment later the Jedi gets pressed into his seat, when the engines start up and they speed away.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have a space fight.
> 
> But also: This chapter ends in a bit of a cliffhanger. So if you really really hate them, wait until next week when I post the next one.

Two of the TIE fighters turn out to be more than just a little bit clingy. Maul throws the ship into a barrel roll to avoid their shots while they speed away from the Star Destroyer. But there are still some lights flashing on the console that tell him they’re taking damage. Maul curses.

“We can’t shake them. Get us behind them.” Kenobi’s voice is calm as ever.

“Save the orders for your clone slaves, General Kenobi.” The protest only serves to make Maul feel a bit better about taking orders from a Jedi, because the idea is good. He pulls the nose of the ship up until he can see the TIE fighters beneath them – or above, who can tell in space. The enemies speed past before the pilots can notice what just happened, and now it’s Maul who pursues them.

“Thank you,” Kenobi says pointedly. Did the comment about the clones hit home? Maul hopes so, even though the Jedi is still hiding his feelings behind a wall of calm.

That wall doesn’t even waver when Kenobi pulls the trigger, and one of the TIE fighters explodes in a ball of fire. Not that Maul feels sorry for the sad sod that just bit the dust, but killing really should spark some kind of emotion in you.

For Maul it’s triumph and joy. He can feel himself grinning while he maneuvers his ship behind the second TIE fighter. The pilot is by now desperately trying to break off, flying an arc back towards his Star Destroyer.

“Again.”

“Let him run,” Kenobi says. “He’s not shooting at us anymore. Just get us out of here.”

That’s definitely way too much jedi-ness for Maul’s liking. “Shoot him.” He follows the fighter’s course, so by now they’re on their way back to where they came from, but he doesn’t care. He wants to see that wall of calm shatter at least once, wants to at least get a glimps at the real Kenobi that still has to be hidden in there somewhere. The angry padawan he’d fought all those years ago. The one he’d had a connection with.

“You’re bringing us back to the Star Destroyer, and there are more fighters ahead.” At least the Jedi has the decency to sound a bit alarmed by now.

“Kill him,” Maul insists.

And there it is, a spike of anger. For a moment Maul thinks Kenobi might try and fight over the controls with him, but the Jedi is smart enough to understand that that’d be a recipe for disaster. Instead Kenobi hits the fire button with more force than would’ve been necessary. The second TIE fighter explodes.

“Happy?” Sadness and guilt join the anger, linger a bit, before Kenobi gets his emotions under control again.

Maul nods. “Very.” Satisfied, he types a destination for a jump into his console, then he activates the hyper drive. Outside the window the stars turn to stripes.

Now that the controls don’t need his attention anymore, he turns to Kenobi. There are only traces of the Jedi’s emotions left now, but having seen that there’s more underneath the surface is all Maul wanted. Now he’s curious, though. “You’ve killed so many during the war, sent just as many to their deaths. I’m surprised one more life makes a difference to you.”

The Jedi shakes his head. “Every single one makes a difference.”

“Yet, you still ended them,” Maul points out.

“It was for the greater good.” But the wall of calm is thinner now, Maul can feel the emotions behind it still in uproar. Good.

He laughs. “What greater good? You lost the war. You killed them all for nothing.”

The wall of calm holds, but barely. And Kenobi’s face mirrors it now, cold and closed off.

Outside the window, a new field of stars appears, a new corner of the universe.

The next moment an alarm goes off. And Maul’s console explodes.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope ya'll were looking forward to some bickering.

_You lost the war. You killed them all for nothing._

Those words follow Obi-Wan while he drags Maul away from the burning console and while he puts the fire out. It doesn’t take long to discover that the hyperdrive has been damaged in the short fight before. Instead to whatever destination Maul had entered, it had taken them into the middle of nowhere and then short circuited a few other systems. It’s a problem to solve later, since they’re floating in the emptiness of space with no dangers anywhere near them. For now Obi-Wan can focus on cutting half burned robes off Maul and applying bacta patches to the areas of skin that look the worst off.

While he does so, he tries to not think of Anakin, burned and broken on Mustafar.

_You killed them all for nothing._

Obi-Wan lies Maul down on the bed in the back area of the ship, finds a chair near it to sit down for a moment. Funny how despite the horns and the tattoos the Sith still looks small and vulnerable like this. Obi-Wan knows that will change the moment he wakes up again. And technically it would be smart to find some kind of restraints, take Maul prisoner. But somehow that feels like it’d just prove what Maul had said before, that he’d try and find some justification for breaking a promise he made instead of sticking to principles.

Maybe he should’ve done that more during the war. Sticking to principles. Maybe if he’d set a better example for Anakin, his padawan wouldn’t have been tempted by the dark side.

Instead he’d taught Anakin to take shortcuts for the greater good. Like shooting down one TIE fighter to avoid having to fight more, even though there might’ve been a way to not kill any, if he’d just looked hard enough. Like getting an army of clones for the Republic without ever really looking into who asked for them to be created in the first place. Without ever considering if it was right to send so many of them to their deaths.

When Anakin had grasped for promises of a miracle cure for Amidala, he had just done what Obi-Wan had shown him countless times, hadn’t he? Looking for the easy way out instead of the right one.

Obi-Wan takes a deep breath, tries to find his calm again. He cannot change what lies in the past. He has to focus on the future.

But that means, if Obi-Wan has any say in it, he and Maul will part ways peacefully, each of them with a copy of the information they found. Sticking to principles this time.

“I didn’t know I was that fascinating.”

Obi-Wan snaps out of his thoughts promptly, and finds Maul’s yellow eyes on him. And yes, he had probably been staring at the Sith without realizing it.

“What can I say,” Obi-Wan replies, trying to distract himself and Maul from his brooding mood. He gets up from his chair and moves closer, trying to assess the condition Maul is in now. “It’s the horns. And that charming dark side aura.”

The Sith laughs. Then he tries to sit up.

Obi-Wan puts a hand on his shoulder and firmly pushes him back. “Give the bacta a bit more time to do its work.”

Maul bares his teeth at him, but he doesn’t struggle against Obi-Wan’s hold for long. The burns on his chest and the lower part of his face probably still hurt a lot. He looks around instead. “I’m surprised. Do you think me so weak that restraints aren’t necessary or did you not find the locker with the stun cuffs?”

Of course Maul had expected betrayal. It’s probably what he would’ve done. If he’d even given Obi-Wan the chance to ever wake up again. And Obi-Wan isn’t completely sure, if he’d made the right call. “I’m not in the habit of tying my allies up,” he says anyway.

A hint of amusement flashes on Maul’s face. “A pity. Allies, hm?”

“We share the same enemy.”

“You said that before.”

“Good,” Obi-Wan replies curtly. “Then we don’t have to discuss it again.” With that he turns away. Time to have a look at the ship systems.

“It’s nice,” he hears Maul say behind him, “to see that you haven’t changed that much since Tatooine. A bit of anger suits you, you know.”

That doesn’t exactly make Obi-Wan feel better, but it probably wasn’t intended to. In the door to the cockpit, Obi-Wan stops again. He shouldn’t let Maul bait him like that, but a little banter can’t hurt, can it? “Well, have I ever told you that I like your new legs? What happened to the original ones, by the way? I think I never asked. Something ate them?”

The next moment he can almost bodily feel Maul’s rage, and Obi-Wan ducks into the cockpit, before the Sith can think of making objects fly in his direction.

“Next time I get the chance, you’re dead, Kenobi!”

“That’s getting old, Maul,” Obi-Wan shouts back. “But feel free to try. Again.”

He can hear movement from the back of the ship, then a curse. Then Maul’s rage slowly ebbs away. At least as much as you’d expect from a Sith.

“In the meantime,” Obi-Wan adds, “I’m in the cockpit assessing the damage. Let me know, if you need anything.”

There’s and angry grunt, then silence.

Well, that could’ve gone worse.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Good news: I'm mostly done writing this story, so I don't need to stall anymore by posting new chapters only once a week. So have a new chapter now :-)

Maul gets up from the bed as soon as he can move again without feeling like his chest and throat are on fire. The wounds still hurt, but it’s a manageable level of pain now. He welcomes it, uses it to sharpen his senses and feed his connection to the dark side.

When he goes looking for his lightsaber, he can’t find it anywhere. So Kenobi isn’t blindly trusting. Probably smart of him.

Maul still doesn’t understand why he hasn’t woken up as the Jedi’s prisoner. If the roles had been reversed, Maul would’ve taken the data chip and then slit Kenobi’s throat. Even though picturing how he’d end his unconscious enemy's life is pretty dissatisfying. He’d prefer to do it in a proper fight. Good thing there are probably many chances for that in the future.

He finds Kenobi in the cockpit, poking inside the half destroyed console. “Oh good, you’re up. Do you have any spare capacitors? I think this one is fried.”

So Kenobi is really just going to act as if they’re friends now? He’d really meant it when he’d spoken of them as allies? For a moment Maul just stands in the door and stares at the Jedi’s back. Yes, of course they have to work together for now, but the Jedi is acting like he’s actually trying to trust Maul.

Well, apart from the fact that Maul’s lightsaber is hanging on Kenobi’s belt next to his own. Again, probably a smart move.

Experimentally, Maul pulls on it with the force.

Immediately, Kenobi puts a hand on it. Finally, he turns around. He looks more exasperated, than actually concerned. “Please, I’m trying to get us somewhat near civilization again.”

That is a commendable goal, Maul has to admit. “I’m going to get the spare parts in a minute. I’d like my weapon back, though.” He’s curious how far the Jedi is willing to go with this trust thing.

Kenobi furrows his brows. “Do I have your word that you’re not going to draw it against me again until we can part ways?”

Interesting. Maul wonders what he’s said that makes Kenobi so forthcoming. But the request sounds reasonable for now. “My word on it.”

“Fine.” There’s still a moment of hesitation, but then Kenobi throws the lightsaber to him.

When Maul catches the weapon, he can see the Jedi tense. For a moment, Maul weights the hilt in his hand, pretending to check for any damage on it while watching Kenobi out of the corner of his eye. The Jedi definitely only relaxes, when the lightsaber is back at Maul’s belt. But that he’s actually trying in terms of trusting an old enemy is surprising enough.

“So, how does it look?” Maul nods towards the broken console.

Kenobi pulls a face. “Not good. But I’m far from knowing as much about all of this technical stuff as A...” He stops himself before he can say the name of his old padawan. The one who’s Darth Vader now, as far as Maul has heard.

Something Maul can poke at later. “Let me have a look,” he says for now.

“Well, it’s your ship.”

* * *

As it turns out, it’s not as bad as Kenobi first thought, and they have most of the spare parts they need. They do have to salvage some wires from less important systems of the ship, though, and fixing everything will probably take a few days.

Soon enough, they slip into a half decent work arrangement, with Maul taking the lead and Kenobi making suggestions when he sees fit. As it turns out, the Jedi isn’t too bad at following commands, and Maul doesn’t need many words to get across what he wants to try. A few hours later Maul is lying on his back with his head in an open maintenance hatch, soldering wires together. His wounds have stopped hurting by now, and he’s gotten rid of the bacta patches. It still stings a lot more than usual when suddenly sparks fly and land on his newly healed skin. Maul curses.

“Wearing a shirt might help,” Kenobi says from the broken console.

Maul doesn’t even bother poking his head out of the hatch. “Am I making you uncomfortable?”

“By all means no. But clothing usually offers protection.”

“Protection is for the weak.”

“If you says so.” Kenobi sounds amused.

The wires finally stay where they’re supposed to be, and now Maul ducks out of the hatch. Kenobi is sitting in the pilot chair, watching him. “Also,” Maul adds, mostly because he’s curious what kind of reaction he’ll get, “what else would you stare at while I work.” He doesn’t use it often, but keeping Jedi off-balance by flirting is a known trick. They get taught to hide all of their emotions from such a young age, Maul doubts anyone ever explains anything to them about sex.

To his surprise, Kenobi holds his gaze. “Good point.”

Maul has to admit, for a Jedi Kenobi is definitely less boring than he could be. But they still have work to do. He nods towards the console. “Try it.”

Kenobi turns and flips a switch. Displays light up. He smiles. “That did it. Good work.”

Praise? It makes Maul pause for a moment, because it’s so unexpected. No one ever praises him. When you’re trained by Darth Sidious and you do something well, your reward is to not get punished. Isn’t that enough?

But now it hits Maul for the first time how coddled Jedi padawan must’ve been – before they all died, that is. Reaping praise instead of suffering for their failures. They probably didn’t even get sent out into the wilderness to either learn quickly or die during their training. The battlefields of the Clones Wars must’ve come as such a shock to them as soon as they were thrust onto them. They must’ve been so unprepared for all the suffering and death.

Maul eyes Kenobi thoughtfully. He must’ve been so unprepared too. Still he’s maybe the last living Jedi now.

No use dwelling on that, though. “There’s more work to do.”


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have more complications.

Obi-Wan doesn’t need much sleep. It can be replaced by meditation for quite a while, and there’s only one bed on the ship anyway. Still, after two days of working on fixing the ship none stop, he feels more than just a little bit worn out. He’s also pretty sure that he can see dark bags underneath Maul’s eyes, even though that’s hard to tell with the red skin and the tattoos.

They’re almost done, though. But by now it’s starting to become more and more clear that there’s one very important spare part missing.

Finally, Maul is the one to say it out loud. “We won’t be able to repair the hyperdrive.”

“We have the normal engines.” Obi-Wan tries to stay positive.

Maul sneers. “With those it takes about a hundred years to get to the next solar system.”

“Maybe, though,” Obi-Wan says, “they just have to take us to a place where we can get the part we need.” He turns towards the co-pilot console and activates the long range sensors that they just fixed. He hopes to find an inhabited planet near by, but instead the sensors show him the next best thing. “There.” He points at the display.

A moment later he can feel Maul hovering over his shoulder. He’s gotten used to that over the last few days, but being that close to someone who’s attuned to the dark side of the force still makes the hairs at the back of his neck stand on end.

“Space debris,” the Sith says.

Obi-Wan nods. “It looks like the remnants of a battle. If we’re lucky, we find what we need there.”

“It’s worth a try,” Maul concedes. He moves over to the pilot seat. “Setting a course.”

Obi-Wan checks his own readings. “It’ll take us half a day to get there. Maybe we should get some rest in the meantime.”

“Maybe we should talk in the meantime.” Maul’s full attention rests on Obi-Wan now, he can feel it like a heavy weight. And when Obi-Wan looks up from his console, he looks right into the Sith’s yellow eyes. “What were you looking for back at the Star Destroyer?”

For a moment Obi-Wan weighs his options. When he gives Maul a copy of the data chip, he’ll learn about the hideout anyway. “Sidious apparently built a new hideout for himself.”

Immediately, Maul leans forward. “You know where?”

Obi-Wan nods. “I think I know where. I gather you were looking for something similar?”

Maul neither confirms nor denies it, instead he looks at Obi-Wan thoughtfully for quite a while. “Probably none of us has a chance against him on our own,” he says finally.

Is that a proposal to work together? Interesting. “I don’t plan on fighting him,” Obi-Wan says, though. “That’s on someone else now.” He allows himself to think of the twins Amidala has given birth to only shortly. That’s information he definitely won’t trust Maul with.

“Who?” Maul seems curious. “Don’t tell me you’re waiting for another chosen one.”

Technically, they are. Obi-Wan says nothing.

“Because that worked out so well last time.” There’s contempt in Maul’s voice. “Do you Jedi ever learn? Or do you just enjoy placing the fate of the whole galaxy on some child’s shoulders? And then you call us cruel?”

That hits dangerously close to home, and it also voices what Obi-Wan has be grappling with for a while now. They’re children, they should grow up safe. Luke and Leia might be their last hope, but they don’t deserve being thrust into a war. Isn’t compassion one of the Jedi principles? They’ve forgotten about that way too often during the war. 

“Most of the Jedi order is dead,” Obi-Wan says to steer the conversation away from children and more specifically the twins. “Before we can do anything, we have to rebuild.”

“Really?” Maul scoffs. “How many of you are left? Two? Three? It took two Sith to take the Republic from you. But I guess you Jedi really are weak.” He gets up from his chair, moves to walk out of the cockpit. “And there I was thinking you could actually do something useful for once.”

At the door he stops again, looking back at Obi-Wan, obviously waiting for something. When he doesn’t get it, he turns away for good.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know, I have strong feelings about that whole "chosen one" business, no matter in which franchise. There are always a bunch of grown ups standing around, going: "Yeah, this child will definitely fix everything we did wrong." It's just not fair.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since lots of us are in lockdown, have another chapter.

Maul doesn’t sleep, he finds a corner in the ship, meditates and waits. He’d started finding a new respect for Kenobi, but the Jedi’s refusal to fight Sidious with him had blown it all away. And with that his willingness to further act like they’re allies. This is an opportunity to get the data chip and be done with his old enemy.

That’s why Maul finally opens his eyes and gets up.

He walks carefully so his cyborg feet make no sound. Slowly he draws near the corner Kenobi is meditating in. The Jedi’s eyes are closed, but Maul can feel turmoil inside him. What he’d said, had struck a nerve. Maul wonders if the Jedi have found a new child somewhere. One with similar power to Vader. But where?

It doesn’t matter. He’s definitely not going to wait for some chosen Jedi child to slay Sidious for him. Maul activates one of the blades of his lightsaber. And strikes.

Kenobi’s lightsaber comes up at the last second, swats Maul’s blade away. He doesn’t say anything, he doesn’t look surprised. He just shifts into a flurry of attacks, grim and determined.

In a matter of seconds Maul finds himself in the defensive. He grabs something random with the force to hurl it at Kenobi, but the Jedi just ducks and then fluently moves into the next attack. Sparks fly when Maul parries.

“I have to correct myself,” Maul says. “You’re not weak, you’re just afraid to face him, aren’t you.” He lets Kenobi push him back with every strike, doesn’t try and get out of the defensive for the moment. Better to wait for the right opportunity. “You helped Sidious to power and gave him the means to kill all of your friends, and now you cover in fear.”

There’s barely anything left of Kenobi’s wall of calm now. Now he really reminds Maul of the padawan he’s fought back on Tatooine. There’s more force behind the strikes, too. Maul ducks one that leaves a long glowing gash on the ship’s wall. Bad for Kenobi that Jedi can’t draw power from their anger.

Maul laughs. And he lunges. Now he’s the one who makes Kenobi stumble back with every strike, the two blades of his weapon nothing but a read whirl.

Then he ducks away from a counter attack and ducks right into a kick that he would’ve never expected from a Jedi. Pain explodes in Maul’s jaw, blinds him for half a second before he can channel it into anger. He whirls away, just barely avoids the Jedi’s blade. But the next flurry of attacks twists his lightsaber out of his grip and backs him up against a wall, Kenobi’s blade at his throat.

For a moment, none of them moves. Maul just stands there with the cold wall at his back, breathing hard, taking in Kenobi’s anger that’s openly on display. He smiles. “That’s the spirit.” He twists his head back a little further to bare his throat. “Do it then. Strike me down and go back into hiding. Let Sidious reign unopposed for the next few decades.”

For a moment the energies of the blade hum even closer to Maul’s skin. For a moment Maul is sure he’s going to die.

Then Kenobi deactivates his lightsaber. He steps in closer instead until their faces are only inches apart. “You won’t get your weapon back this time. You’re my prisoner now.”

It still feels like a triumph. He’s pushed Kenobi further than ever before.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think I'll post new chapters every two days now.
> 
> So here have some of the promised philosophy talk.

Of course you can find slave collars on a Sith ship. A silver metal ring with a lock that needs a remote and a thumb print of the “owner” of the slave to be opened again. Obi-Wan feels dirty when he fastens it around Maul’s neck, but that way he will have his hands free and can still help with the repairs. Surprisingly, the Sith holds still. He seems oddly satisfied with the outcome of the fight.

“Too tight?” Obi-Wan asks when he’s done.

“Cute question,” Maul comments. He doesn’t answer it. Instead he turns around to face Obi-Wan, steps closer until they’re almost chest to chest. Obi-Wan stands his ground, knowing that Maul would like him to back away. The dark side around Maul makes his hair stand on end again, but Obi-Wan is slowly getting used to that.

“So, any orders … master?” Maul asks in a mocking tone.

Obi-Wan knows the Sith is only trying to make him feel even more uneasy with the situation, but it still works. He doesn’t like having to use a slave collar of all things. But he won’t let Maul know that, if he can help it. So he holds the gaze of the yellow eyes. “We’re still going to repair that hyperdrive. I just want to get it done without you trying to kill me again.”

Instead of an answer, Maul just shoots him a toothy grin.

* * *

“There are several damaged vessels out there.” Obi-Wan is checking his readings. Maul is in the pilot seat again. “Separatist and Republic.”

“I can see as much without sensors by now,” Maul comments. “The Cruiser in the middle of it looks almost undamanged.” His voice is even and soldier-like. Nothing left of the fit of rage he showed before.

Obi-Wan nods. “It still has an atmosphere, too, but none of the systems are running, so it may be not breathable anymore. And it’ll be cold.”

“So, breathing masks. We can deal with the cold.”

Obi-Wan nods again. “Good thing we took those masks from the Star Destroyer.”

“Maybe we can even land in the hangar.” Maul already sets a course.

“Good idea,” Obi-Wan agrees. When he isn’t trying to kill you, it’s surprisingly easy to work with Maul.

When Obi-Wan looks up from his console, the Sith’s eyes are on him, not on the controls.

“What?” Obi-Wan asks.

Maul huffs, and it seems like he isn’t going to answer, but then he does. “If you were wearing a slave collar instead of me, I would not treat you as an equal.”

“Does me doing so make me weak in your eyes?” Obi-Wan already knows the answer to that, and Maul doesn’t even bother giving it. So Obi-Wan continues. “You have just as much experience with situations like this as I do, and I hope you’re just as invested in our survival as I am. It makes sense to listen to your suggestions.” 

“I guess a Jedi wouldn’t understand the enjoyment of having power over someone else.”

“No,” Obi-Wan says, “I really don’t understand how you can draw enjoyment from that.”

“Lucky me,” Maul says in a dry voice. There’s some contempt in it, as if he’d rather want Obi-Wan to exploit the advantage he has instead of trying to treat him fairly.

“Don’t sound so disappointed,” Obi-Wan tries to lighten the mood with a joke.

He gets a surprised side glance, then the flash of a grin. “You know, for someone who cut me in half, swarted a lot of my plans, and has now taken me prisoner, I do quite like you. I would maybe actually consider not killing you, if the roles were reversed.”

“You did try to kill me a few hours ago,” Obi-Wan points out.

“Your cowardice annoyed me.”

Yes, maybe that’s the case, but now that Obi-Wan thinks about it more clearly, it had been the first time a proposal to work together had come from Maul. “Or maybe you just don’t handle rejection well.”

He can feel a spike of anger from Maul, but then the Sith pauses, seems to think.

“I don’t need anyone,” he says after a while. It doesn’t sound very convincing.

* * *

The hangar of the Republic Cruiser is nothing but a graveyard. Dead clones lie strewn everywhere, ice crystals on their skin and frozen blood pooling around them. Between them are just as many trashed droids, but in the end the hangar had obviously been lost, because the dead bodies don’t end at the door. As far as Obi-Wan can tell from where they landed the hallways further in don’t look any better.

And it’s not like Obi-Wan has never seen the likes of this before. But now the times he was used to walking over battlefields seem far away. Now all he can think of is that he lead those men to their deaths. He was the one who found them on Kamino and delivered them onto a life where their purpose was to die eventually. And he didn’t accomplish anything with it, just even more death.

A hand on his shoulder brings him back to reality. “I can feel your guilt.” Maul sounds amused.

Obi-Wan takes a deep breath through the mask he’s wearing. It’s in the past, he has to put it behind him. He shakes Maul’s hand away and strides forward. “Let’s find that spare part.”

At the door to the hallway Maul catches up to him. The Sith doesn’t care much for the dead, steps into frozen blood and kicks severed body parts away. Obi-Wan considers telling him to be more careful, but then he doesn’t. It’s not like it’ll bother the dead anymore, it’d just give the Sith more oppurtunity for mockery.

“What’s the matter?” Maul asks. “It can’t be the first time you see something like this.”

Yes, but the last time he saw something like this, it still looked like they could win the war. At least all the death and destruction had a purpose then.

“Do you not have any compassion at all?” Obi-Wan asks to steer the conversation away from himself.

“They were weak,” Maul says. “So they died.”

“Wouldn’t the same be true for your brother?”

Obi-Wan feels the shift in the force a second before Maul grabs him and slams him against the wall. His hand shifts to the remote that he can use to activate the shock function of the slave collar, but for now he doesn’t. He wants to see where this is going. Also, he really doesn’t like the idea of actually using the collar.

Maul’s face is inches from his now, and his right forearm presses again Obi-Wan’s chest to hold him against the wall.

“Sidious took my brother _from me_ , he’ll pay for that.”

Oh, so it’s a matter of ownership? Or is it just what Maul tells himself to not admit that he’s actually capable of caring for someone? “Aren’t you Sith allowed to form emotional bonds? So there’s no shame in admitting it, if he actually meant something to you.”

“Of course he did, that goes without saying.” Finally, Maul lets Obi-Wan go, takes a step back. Now he’s the one to take a deep breath, even though Obi-Wan can feel that his emotions are still in turmoil. “And I guess you’re right, he was weak. I failed him by not training him better.”

That statement Obi-Wan can relate to very well. He reaches out, places a hand on Maul’s shoulder. “I’m sure you did your best. But it’s in the past now. Let it go.”

Maul scoffs, but he doesn’t try and avoid the touch. “That’s the Jedi way. As a Sith you never forget you mistakes. You use the anguish they cause you to become stronger.”

“That sounds terrible.” Slowly, Obi-Wan pulls his hand away, moves to resume their path. He can’t imagine leading a life like that.

Maul laughs, while he falls in step with Obi-Wan. “You Jedi are weird.”

“Is that so?” Apart from the fact that the conversation is a good distraction from all the carnage around them, Obi-Wan is intrigued now. You don’t often get the opportunity to talk philosophy with a Sith.

“Of course you are. For one you feel sorry for some dead people you never met while they were still alive.” He gestures around them. “But on the other hand you just shrug and move on when someone close to you gets taken from you. Sidious twisted and stole you padawan. Shouldn’t that make you angry? Don’t you blame yourself for what happened sometimes?”

Oh, he does. “There is no emotion, there’s peace,” Obi-Wan quotes the Jedi code. He isn’t very good at following it right now, but he has to do his best.

“Peace is a lie. There is only passion,” Maul quotes back.

“Is that how the Sith code goes?”

Maul nods. “Do you want to hear the rest of it?”

On the other hand, talking philosophy with a Sith might not be the best idea. Especially not in a place like this. “Maybe some other time. I think I’ve had enough dark side teachings for today.”

Maul laughs again. “Tempted?”

“No!”

“A pity. You’d make a fine Sith.” It’s said in a rather sincere tone.

Obi-Wan can’t help but shudder. “I’d rather die.”

“That is a pretty emotional statement for a Jedi.” Maul sounds amused now.

Obi-Wan sighs. Maybe silence wouldn’t be that bad. “Just focus on our mission.”

“As you wish … master.”

“Please, just shut up.”

Maul laughs again, but there isn’t any real malice in it anymore. He just seems to enjoy the banter, and Obi-Wan can’t begrudge him that.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So much for wanting to post a chapter every two days ... Sorry I missed one. I dropped into a bad mental health hole. Have a new chapter now.

Maul knows he should feel trapped by the current situation. Being at the mercy of a Jedi is not very likely to end deadly, but instead very likely to end with life long imprisonment somewhere boring. And Maul doesn’t even have to think about it, he’d definitely prefer death.

Still, it doesn’t feel that bad. Not while Kenobi is struggling to get his emotions back under control. Not while Maul can tempt him and edge him a little closer to the dark side. Yes, he’s wearing a slave collar right now. But there’ve been times during his apprentienceship with Darth Sidious where Maul had been significantly less in control of his own fate. It doesn’t mean he likes the damned collar, but he can work with this situation.

And until then Kenobi’s company is surprisingly enjoyable.

* * *

Half an hour later Maul is enjoying himself considerably less. Why every engineer who’s ever designed a big ship always thinks it’s necessary to have endless shafts that allows you to fall to your almost certain death is beyond Maul. But apparently it’s one of the most important features when you’re building a space craft. And of course the part they need is embedded in the wall of a shaft like that. So Maul is hanging from a rope around his waist, working on opening screws and disentangling cables, while Kenobi is opperating a console above him, opening and closing hatches now and then when Maul needs to reach something new.

The only good thing is that this room has still a breathable atmosphere, so they don’t need the masks for now.

The rope gives a little, Maul sags down a few inches …

_And suddenly Maul is falling again. Something is falling besides him, and it takes him a while to understand that it’s his legs. He’s going to die. He knows that with certainty. The moment he reaches the end of this terrible fall he’ll be nothing but a speck of dirt on the pages of history. He’s failed. He’s allowed the Jedi to defeat him. He’s allowed a Jedi Padawan to defeat him, the one whose presence in the force he can still feel above him, glowing so brightly._

“Maul!”

_He doesn’t want to die, though. This cannot be the end. It’s not allowed to end like this! Anger rises over fear, and he takes both, wrestles them into submission, uses them, while his heart is beating like mad and every nerve ending in his lower body is screaming and there’s probably more adrenaline coursing through his body than blood …_

“Maul!”

Suddenly he’s back on the dead ship. Someone is craddling his face. And he can’t exactly feel his new cyborg legs, but a metal foot twitches when he gives the mental command. He doesn’t need his old legs anymore.

And he’s not falling. It’s a long time since he’s been falling like that.

“Breathe.” Kenobi’s voice. “A deep breath in, a deep breath out. Slowly.”

“I’m not a Jedi,” Maul hisses through the lingering fear of the vision … well, the memory. Still, he takes a deep breath, fights for control. You have to use your emotions, not let them overwhelm you.

“It’s hard not to notice. The force is in terrible turmoil around you. Are you okay? What did you see?”

Is that concern in Kenobi’s voice? Maul wants to feel disgust, but curiously he’s somewhat happy about it. “Just memories.”

“Memories?” Kenobi looks confused for a moment, then it dawns on him. “Oh.” He’s still craddling Maul’s face with both hands, but now he starts a motion that almost impales his hand on Maul’s horns. What’s he trying? Stroking hair that Maul doens’t have? In the end he settles for craddling the back of Maul’s head. “You should’ve said something.”

“Weaknesses are there to be overcome,” Maul says.

“Yeah, sure, whatever, but …” Then Kenobi stops. He sighs. “I understand that you don’t want to be hindered by old fears. If there’s anything I can do to help, let me know. But in the meantime you don’t have to go back down there again. I was just so able to keep you from tearing this room apart this time. It would make more sense for me to finish the work down there.”

Only now Maul realizes that they’re both kneeling on the floor at the edge of the shaft. Which means Kenobi must’ve pulled him up while he was caught in memories. No small feat.

Maul’s first reaction to the suggestion is anger. He won’t be babied. But then he studies the concern in Kenobi’s face for a while longer. Most of the Jedi’s emotions are hidden again by now, but this feels genuine. Interesting. And it’s a thing Maul can latch onto, something that’ll give him back control over the situation again.

He leans even closer. “I didn’t realize you cared that much about me,” he says. Maybe his voice wavers a bit, but he still manages a mocking tone.

Kenobi forrows his brows, but he doesn’t lean away. “Compassion is an important–”

It’s a calculated gesture, when Maul puts a finger over Kenobi’s lips to shut him up. With the wall of calm mostly back in place it’s hard to say what Kenobi is feeling, but this will throw him off balance either way. Keep some cracks in the wall for a while longer. It’s not Maul’s usual style, but right now he’s grasping for anything. And flirting with Kenobi is fun, that’s for sure. 

“You should be honest with yourself,” he says. “You’re alone. When did you last talk to someone? Someone on your own level, I mean, who knows the force like you do? You do enjoy my company.”

For a moment, Kenobi keeps staring at him from underneath furrowed brows. He lets go of Maul’s face and grabs the hand instead that’s still shushing him, pulls it down a little bit. “I’d enjoy it more if you wouldn’t keep trying to kill me,” he says.

Maul grins. “Noted.”

For a moment they’re just sitting there, Kenobi staring at Maul as if he isn’t quite sure what to make of this. Then he repeats: “You can do the part of the work up here.”

“No.” Maul gets up. “I’m getting back down. It’s almost done.”

* * *

His heart is hammering with fear when Kenobi slowly lets him down the shaft again. But Maul lets it flow through him and channels it into power. It’s a matter of pride now. He wants Kenobi to see that he can master his emotions without denying their very existence.

It really doesn’t take long to unplug the last few cables. A push with the force sends the spare part up to Kenobi. The Jedi catches it with the force and sets it down carefully next to him.

“We make a pretty good team,” he shouts down.

“Told you you enjoy my company.” Maul doesn’t wait to be pulled up again. He pushes with his feet against the wall to get a bit of upwards momentum, then he amplifies it with the force. Moments later he lands next to Kenobi in a low crouch. Relief of not hanging over nothing anymore washes through him.

Kenobi picks up the spare part. “You haven’t tried to kill me for at least six hours by now. If you keep that up, I might actually start enjoying it.” There’s a bit of humor twinkling in his eyes.

Maul catches himself smiling. “I can’t promise anything, but we’ll see.”


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look at me remembering things like posting a new chapter in the time interval I promised. Progress!
> 
> Enjoy

“Screwdriver!” Maul’s voice is demanding and his hand extended into Obi-Wan’s direction. The Sith’s head is sticking in a maintenance hatch again, and his shirt is bunched up underneath the head as a makeshift pillow. Maybe it makes working easier, but Obi-Wan is pretty sure Maul could’ve found something else for that purpose, if he’d tried. He hadn’t.

So Obi-Wan is stuck with handing over various tools now and then and apart from that following the lines of the tattoos on Maul’s red skin with his eyes. He’s trying not to stare too much, but Maul is not exactly unpleasant to look at and there isn’t that much else to do while the Sith is completing the last repairs. Also, now and then his eyes catch on the bit of metal visible above Maul’s belt where his cyborg lower half begins.

It’s weird. He’d never thought of the Sith as someone who’d even be capable of suffering from trauma. Learning today that he himself had inflicted something on Maul that is still haunting him after all those years provokes very mixed feelings in Obi-Wan. The Sith had definitely brought it upon himself, but Obi-Wan still feels a bit sorry for him.

“So, what is the plan after we finish the repairs?” Maul asks while he’s tightening some screws. “Are you keeping me?”

Involuntarily Obi-Wan’s eyes flick to the slave collar around Maul’s neck. “Do you have to make it sound so terrible?”

Maul’s hands push against the wall, and then his face appears in the opening. It’s showing an amused expression. “Oh, is the fact that you put a slave collar around my neck offending you?”

Obi-Wan knows that the Sith is just trying to get some kind of reaction from him, still he can’t help but engage. “I wasn’t exactly planning on making you my slave. You’re my prisoner for now.”

Maul waves the words away. “Which word exactly you’re using doesn’t make much of a difference when it comes to the level of freedom I have. Are you going to give it back or are you keeping me?”

Fine, if Maul insists on wording it like that, Obi-Wan can play along. He leans a little closer. “Since your company is so enjoyable as you yourself pointed out and you’re also going out of your way to give me something to look at …” Now he deliberately lets his eyes drift over Maul’s torso for a moment. “... I might be tempted to, as you call it, keep you.”

Maul furrows his brows. It’s obvious that he didn’t expect this kind of reply. Good. Finally Obi-Wan has managed to throw him off-balance for a change.

It takes the Sith a visible moment to adjust to the new situation. Then he props himself up on his elbows and looks at Obi-Wan through half closed eyes. “That sounds dangerously like something you’d do for your personal enjoyment, Jedi. Is that even allowed?”

“Who’s going to stop me?” Obi-Wan can’t help but sound a bit bitter at that even though he tries to go for a more playful tone.

He isn’t quite sure what the slow smile means that spreads on Maul’s face now. But the Sith turns until he’s on his knees and can lean into Obi-Wan’s space who’s sitting next to him against the wall. “Exactly,” he says in a low voice. “So come and kill Darth Sidious with me. If you don’t do it for revenge, do it so no one else has to. That’s something a Jedi has to understand, right? Is the great General Kenobi really going to put that burden onto someone else’s shoulders?”

Obi-Wan hates that Maul has a point. For a moment he allows his thoughts to drift to the twins Amidala has born, Luke and Leia. They might be strong in the force, but this war isn’t their war. Yoda had said the children are their only hope, but could he have expected an ally like Maul? The dark side cloaks the future and makes visions less reliable.

“If I don’t fight him with you,” he says, “but give you your freedom, are you going to fight Sidious alone and die?”

Maul leans back on his haunches and shrugs. “I will fight him alone.”

What a waste. Obi-Wan lets his head fall back against the wall and mulls all of his possibilities over. What he’s supposed to do is hide and place the fate of the galaxy on the shoulders of two innocent children. But shouldn’t a Jedi’s actions always be guided by compassion?

Finally he turns to Maul, who’s still sitting there, waiting. “I’m almost sure you won’t side with your old master, but you do keep trying to kill me.”

Maul nods, then his hand goes up to the silver band of the slave collar around his neck. He pulls on it, grimaces, then seems to come to a decision. “I can live with wearing this until we part ways.”

When Obi-Wan can’t hide his surprise, Maul’s face darkens. “Don’t get me wrong, I don’t like it, but you’re way too hung up on morals to do anything actually nasty with the power it gives you anyway.”

It is an accurate assessment, but Obi-Wan doesn’t like the contempt with which it’s said. He just nods, though. Then he pulls the data chip from his robe and hands it to Maul. “Here. Let’s have a look at what we’re up against as soon as we’re done with the repairs, shall we?”

Maul smiles. It looks like genuine happiness for a change.

* * *

They finish the repairs. Then they eat. Maul toys with the data chip through all of the meager meal they share, but even he seems to know that this might just as well end in both of them dying, and none of them is in that much of a rush to do so.

After the meal he gets up abruptly, though, and stalks over to a console. Obi-Wan turns to look at the display that’ll show whatever they found. There’s no need to talk.

Sidious’ hideout is located on Exegol, a planet that Obi-Wan has never heard of but that gets a visible reaction from Maul.

Obi-Wan gets up and walks over to the console to figure out the location of the world. “It’s not in the star charts,” he says after a moment, eyeing his companion curiously.

“Of course it isn’t,” Maul says. “It’s one of the hidden Sith worlds.” He doesn’t offer any more information, though.

“So you know how to get there?”

“I was an apprentice. If I’d learned everything my master had to teach, I would’ve killed him.”

Obi-Wan knows the Sith work like that. Hearing Maul talk about it in an off-hand comment is still a bit shocking, though.

“But look,” Maul calls up more data. “They need materials for the construction. There’s information here where to deliver them. We go there, then follow the transports.”

Obi-Wan studies the rest of the information. Apart from a few more instructions concerning the construction, it also says to be ready for regular inspections by the Emperor himself. “So once we’re there, we hide,” he says. “And wait for him to show up.”

Maul nods. “He won’t bring many guards since it’s supposed to be a secret.”

It’s a simple plan, but it’ll work. “How many guards do you expect him to bring?”

As always when they’re discussing strategy, they fall into an easy back and forth, relaying as much information as possible in as few words as possible. It feels like an easy companionship, something Obi-Wan is used to having with soldiers, but something he’s never expected to ever experience with a Sith.

In the end they have a plan, and Maul strides into the cockpit to set a course. They’re going to jump close to the spot they need to be, then go the rest of the way slowly, to make sure they aren’t spotted. And they’re really going to do this, try and fight the man who ended the Jedi order. It feels insane, but if it can spare coming generations a lot of pain, maybe it’s really worth the try.

As soon as there’s nothing more to do Obi-Wan feels the exhaustion of the last few days wash over him. He’s standing in the door to the cockpit, but now he turns towards where he knows the only bed in this ship is located. “I don’t know about you, but I need real sleep.”

Maul doesn’t turn away from the ship controls. “You first. I’ll wake you after a few hours, then you take over the controls and I sleep.”

Someone has to watch out for enemies. Taking turns sounds like a good solution. Even though Obi-Wan wonders how he’s gotten to the point where having a Sith keep watch while he sleeps sounds good at all.

Maul seems to notice his hesitation. He finally turns to Obi-Wan. “I promise, I’m not even thinking about murdering you in your sleep right now.”

Obi-Wan laughs. “That’s reassuring.”

A grin spreads on Maul’s face. “I aim to please.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Btw, in my opinion the sequels ... I don't want to hurt the feelings of anyone who enjoys them ... If they make you happy, that's good for you. But I really didn't like them. I'm still using Exegol 1. because there's not much lore about it that I'd have to research, because sequel lore is all over the place and full of holes anyway, so I can't break much, and 2. because it's so over the top edgy that I thought it'd be fun.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is probably kinda frustrating to read. They're both pretty stubborn, though, and need some more time.  
> You've been warned.

The bed is located in an alcove at the far end of the ship. Maul is standing in the entrance and watches the Jedi’s sleeping form. There’s not much else to do. They’ve jumped into a star system and are slowly drawing closer to a planet that is at the coordinates they got from the data chip. Here is where the transports are instructed to leave all the supplies they bring. From here they have to get to Exegol somehow. Maul is keeping their speed low so their engines can’t be detected in case anyone is scanning for something like that.

Kenobi has curled up underneath the blanket as if he’s cold. His hair is tousled, strands falling in his eyes. And even though his sleep is far from deep as far as Maul can tell, he is actually sleeping. Maul hadn’t expected him to trust like that. Or maybe Kenobi is just exhausted enough to not care.

On a nightstand next to the bed is Kenobi’s lightsaber. Maul eyes it curiously. Finally, he takes a few steps forward and reaches for the weapon.

The hilt is perfectly balanced and lies well in his hand. Not bad. For a moment, Maul’s thumb hovers over the switch that will turn the weapon on. Just to check out the blade. And maybe also to see if that’d be enough to wake the Jedi.

“Don’t,” comes Kenobi’s voice from the bed. When Maul looks up, the Jedi’s eyes are on him. Apart from that, he hasn’t moved, though.

Slowly, Maul turns the hilt in his hand so that the blade is pointing at himself. Then he extends it towards Kenobi.

“I’m pleasantly surprised.” Kenobi sits up on the bed, blanket sliding away and revealing pale skin underneath.

Maul makes a point of eyeing him with interest while the Jedi takes the lightsaber from his hand. Their fingers touch for a moment, and Maul feels the warmth of Kenobi’s skin, suppressing a small shudder. The flirting might be a fun game, but he also wouldn’t mind if it amounted to something, he realizes.

Not that that’s very likely with a Jedi, but the likeliness of something has never kept Maul from trying. After all he’s about to fight his old master, and even with Kenobi his chances of success aren’t that big.

Kenobi’s torso is riddled with scars, just like Maul’s own, souvenirs from the long war they fought. Maul lets his gaze linger a while longer, then he returns it to Kenobi’s face. The Jedi is watching him, leaning back slightly, the hand with the lightsaber on the mattress next to him. His expression is curious and slightly amused. “Do you need a few more minutes?”

Maul takes a step closer. “I’d like about an hour and the permission to not just look, but touch.”

With more than just a little bit of satisfaction he watches as Kenobi’s gaze flickers away from his for a moment. So it’s still possible to throw him off balance after all. The emotions Maul feels in the Jedi aren’t exactly negative, though.

Kenobi clears his throat before he speaks again. “I didn’t expect you to be that thankful for me promising to fight Sidious with you.” It’s an attempt to sound unfazed, but the delivery is slightly off, betrays him still being flustered.

When Kenobi gets up from the bed, he pulls the blanket with him, wrapped around his waist. Then he seems to remember that he can’t keep it, and in a deliberate movement, he unwraps it, offers it to Maul. Underneath, he’s wearing short underpants that don’t leave much to imagination, but Maul refrains from staring this time. He has some class, after all. Instead, he takes the offered blanket. “Thankfulness has nothing to do with it.”

He drops the blanket back on the bed, then he starts unfastening the belt that holds his robe together. He’s not going to sleep fully clothed either, after all.

Kenobi puts his pants on while Maul sheds clothing, but after that he stops to watch. So he isn’t just tempted, but actively interested? And when Maul gets rid of his pants, Kenobi does chance a look – and the mood shifts to serious in an instant.

It’s the cyborg legs, isn’t it? Is the Jedi getting offended by something he’s done again? Well, it looks like getting laid will have to wait, but this might get interesting too.

“That was pretty messy work from your side, you know,” Maul says. “You missed all the vital organs. Should’ve aimed the blow a bit higher.”

Now that he’s been invited to, Kenobi stares openly at the point where flesh and metal meet. After a while, his gaze comes up to Maul’s face, though. “I’m sorry I caused you suffering.” There’s genuine sympathy in his voice that grates on Maul. He doesn’t want pity. “I was aiming for a clean death. It was a padawan mistake.”

That makes Maul pause. The apology is unexpected, but not out of character for a Jedi. What Kenobi is apologizing for, though, that he’s implying he doesn’t regret trying to kill Maul, just the way he went about it … Maul can feel traces of that old anger of Kenobi’s in it. It’s cold now and refined into something hard and unyielding, and Maul likes it. It deserves an honest reply. “Only a coward would choose death over suffering.”

Kenobi lifts an eyebrow in surprise, but then he nods as if he understands.

“So, would you be willing to put the past behind us once and for all?” He asks after a while.

Maul isn’t sure, if he’s willing to go that far, even though it’s hard to hold up a grudge against someone he’s fighting side by side with. There’d been a time where he’d wanted nothing more but revenge, though. And he doesn’t want to just let go of what happened, all the pain and anger he can draw power from. “Are you really asking me to forgive and forget?”

Kenobi gives a frustrated huff. “I guess that would be too much to ask. But is this at least something you’d be willing to not try and murder me over anymore? Once and for all. Not just for now.”

So the Jedi is back to trying to make friends again. Maul really wonders what it is that he said that prompted this kind of behavior. “Are you expecting me to apologize for killing your master? Or that duchess on Mandalore?” Maul tries to remember if there was anyone else he killed the Jedi might’ve held dear. But those two must’ve been the most important ones.

The question gets him a look from underneath furrowed brows. “Not if you don’t expect any further apologies from me,” Kenobi says after a moment, a bit of an edge in his voice now.

Maul hadn’t expected any. He doesn’t want any. Why do Jedi always think some nice words should be able to solve everything? But a truce that extends after they killed Sidious might be useful. It might help him get rid of the slave collar when the time comes. If the time comes.

“Fine,” he says.

“Good.” Kenobi nods, but looks dissatisfied. As if this hasn’t quite gone as he’d hoped. But after a moment he picks up the rest of his clothes and his lightsaber.

“Sleep well.” With that he walks away towards the cockpit.

Maul follows him with his gaze. He definitely doesn’t regret what he said and he stands by not making more concessions, but he’s still disappointed to see the Jedi go.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I almost missed posting the next chapter, but here you go.

It’s frustrating. Obi-Wan knows he shouldn’t expect anything else from a Sith, but why do they have to cling to grudges as if their life depends on it? Especially if they’re the one who started the fight they got hurt in. If you can’t live with losing some fights, how about not trying to murder people all the time?

Still, when an ally is hurt, someone whose company you’ve regretfully started enjoying, you feel compassion. You try to help them heal, like Obi-Wan had instinctively done back on the dead ship. But in this case he’s the one who inflicted the injury in the first place, which makes matters way more complicated than Obi-Wan would like. So he’d tried to put this behind them, get closure for both of them. But the Sith had given back the barest minimum.

Obi-Wan sighs. It’s a small miracle that Maul even made the concessions he did. Obi-Wan shouldn’t be surprised about this, let alone frustrated by it. Why is he, then?

Master Yoda would probably have something wise to say about it, but he’s not here. No one is here who could give him guidance, and it makes Obi-Wan realize how much he’s always relied on the wisdom of the council when it came to important decisions. Sure, he’d grown up, grown out of having to get told what to do, he’d been a general, made important decisions daily. But they’d always asked the right questions, shared some advice, if he needed it.

Now he’s by himself, and all he knows is that Maul is getting under his skin way too much.

He takes a deep breath. Outside the window there’s a planet in sight by now. Obi-Wan makes sure that the cloaking device is still doing its job, then checks all the readings the ship is giving him. Is there a landing pad on the planet’s surface where the transport ships would arrive? They’ll have to sneak closer if he wants to know for sure. And at the current speed it’ll take a few more hours. So all he has to do for now is wait.

He could use the time for meditating. If there’s danger, he’ll feel it. So he closes his eyes and evens out his breathing.

* * *

There definitely is a landing pad on the planet’s surface, even though it’s hidden underneath a thick layer of rain clouds. Obi-Wan is about to get up to wake Maul, when he hears metal footsteps behind him and then feels the uneasiness of the dark side the Sith brings with him.

“Oh good,” he says without turning around. “Do you want to do us the honor of bringing this ship to the surface so we can check out the facility down there?”

“You don’t like piloting much, do you?” Maul steps closer, and then Obi-Wan can feel him leaning on the backrest of his chair.

“I hate it,” he admits.

“Strong use of words for a Jedi.”

Apparently Maul can’t go more than a few minutes without making some kind of remark about Jedi or Jedi philosophy, but this is the usual mostly friendly banter Obi-Wan is used to by now. He welcomes it. “It’s just that people keep shooting at me whenever I’m flying something.”

Maul huffs a laugh. “The trick is to shoot them first to not give them the opportunity.”

“I’d prefer, if we could reach the surface without anyone even noticing.” Now Obi-Wan turns. Maul is looking down at him with an unreadable expression, casually leaning on the chair. When the Sith notices that Obi-Wan is about to get up, he takes a step back to make room.

They’re still pretty close when Obi-Wan moves past him, the fabric of their clothes snagging on each other, and suddenly Obi-Wan is acutely aware again of the things that happened right after he woke up from his nap earlier. He’d noticed Maul’s flirting before, of course, and he’d given back as good as he could, just on the basis that he refuses to get thrown off-balance by it. He hadn’t expected it to be serious. Maul had seemed serious earlier, though. And Obi-Wan knows he shouldn’t like the thought, but he does. Even with the reminder about all the violence in their past.

Maybe he’d been a bit too lonely on Tatooine.

When he glides into the co-pilot seat, Obi-Wan can feel Maul’s gaze on him. But after a moment the Sith turns towards the controls, checks the readings. “The weather will help us stay undetected,” he says.

“I was counting on that,” Obi-Wan agrees. “And there seems to be jungle underneath the clouds, so it should be easy to find a spot to hide the ship.”

“Good,” Maul says. “Let’s catch a transport.”

And Obi-Wan doesn’t even have to focus to feel the excitement his companion is radiating. It’s not exactly pure, an intention for violence lying underneath it. But it still means Maul is in a good mood … in a weird twisted Sith way. It’s nice.

“Let’s catch a transport,” Obi-Wan agrees.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's a cliffhanger at the end of this chapter. You've been warned.

The rain on this planet is cold and finds it’s way everywhere. By now the hood that was supposed to keep Maul dry is plastered to his head. Everything he’s wearing is drenched to the skin. His mood is accordingly abysmal while they’re sitting in the bushes, watching the landing platform.

One of the transports with building materials has landed and is currently unloaded by droids. So they’re storing materials here that are probably going to be picked up by another ship at some point to go to their final destination. That way merchants have an address to deliver their goods to without knowing where the actual building site is. Smart.

And not many people are working here who could tell on the secret either. So far they’ve seen mostly droids.

Still, there’s one man who’s acting as an overseer of sorts. Maul points to him. “We could snatch him and ask questions.”

“No.”

Of course the Jedi wouldn’t like that. Maul doesn’t even bother masking his annoyance. And he really doesn’t care. He moves to get up and do what he proposed anyway. There is a chance Kenobi won’t dare use the slave collar to stop him and it’ll save them a lot of time.

Maul is half right. The collar around his neck doesn’t do anything, instead, there’s suddenly a hand on his shoulder, pushing him down again. “Listen and think,” Kenobi hisses. “Would you let a guy like him know where your secret hideout was being built? No, you’d just tell him to unload one ship and load everything onto another. The only person who knows where the materials are going is probably the pilot of the second ship.”

Maul hates that the Jedi is most likely right. And that he hadn’t thought of this. That it took basically an order from Kenobi for him to avoid something that could’ve been a stupid mistake. “Fine,” he growls after a moment.

Kenobi’s grip losens, but his hand stays where it is. After a moment Maul feels warmth seep through the wet fabric of his clothes. He hates that he likes the feeling.

“It looks like whatever ship will pick up the cargo, will also land here”, the Jedi continues. “Once that happens we’ll probably have a few hours to either sneak onto it or attach some kind of homing beacon to it so it’s easier to follow without getting detected. What would you prefer?”

Maul is so caught up in his annoyance with the whole situation that he almost misses the question. It soothes his anger a little bit. “There are some small spy droids on my ship that we can use for that,” he says. “I’d prefer not to leave my ship behind.”

“Good,” Kenobi says. “Let’s go back then.”

Whatever gets them out of this rain, Maul is on board with it.

* * *

Maul has landed the ship on a clearing where it’s mostly hidden underneath the overhanging branches of the trees around it. The cloaking device is running without pause on top of that.

It’s a good hiding spot, but it also means that they have to walk through water drenched jungle for quite a while to get back to it.

“I hate this planet.” Maul swats a broad leaf away that has a small waterfall running down it’s tip. This isn’t just rain anymore, it’s as if someone is emptying buckets of water over them.

The Jedi laughs. “A bit of water doesn’t hurt anyone.”

“Calling this ‘a bit of water’ is like saying that Tatooine might have some sandy spots,” Maul grumbles.

For a moment, they trudge on in silence. Despite everything getting half drowned, there’s life in the jungle around them. Maul listens to the calls of foreign animals, almost hoping something might attack them so he gets an outlet for his bad mood.

“Thank you,” Kenobi says after a while, “for listening to me earlier.”

Maul scoffs. “Don’t thank me, if I have to do what you want anyway.” He pulls on the slave collar while he walks and throws Kenobi a side-glance to see his reaction.

A line appears between the Jedi’s brows. He steps around a particularly deep puddle, and Maul almost thinks the conversation might be done with that, but then Kenobi speaks again. “So you don’t agree with my reasoning?”

“I do,” Maul admits, but if he has to be in a bad mood, he wants to share it. “I just don’t agree with you acting like you don’t have power over me.”

The line between Kenobi’s brows appears again. “All that collar is doing is making sure you don’t try and kill me again.”

That sounds slightly defensive, doesn’t it? And rain be damned, Maul can feel his bad mood lift a little. “So …” He starts, curious. “If I’d decided to torture that guy for information, what would you have done?”

“I would’ve …” Kenobi starts, then stops and presses his lips together in a small line. “I expect you to act reasonably when we’re working together.”

Maul starts enjoying this. “And with reasonable you mean according to your values.”

He can feel a small spike of anger from Kenobi. Good. “Avoiding unnecessary cruelty isn’t open for debate!”

“Then admit that you’d enforce it!” Maul stops and grabs Kenobi’s arm. “Admit that you aren’t above using what is at your disposal to bend me to your will.” He doesn’t care about the rain anymore, barely feels it. All he sees is Kenobi fully turning towards him now and staring at him with slight hints of annoyance and that anger that Maul likes to see so much.

For a moment Kenobi doesn’t speak. “Fine,” he says finally. “As a last resort, if nothing else works ...” He twists his arm out of Maul’s grip angrily. But instead of putting distance between them, he hooks one finger underneath Maul’s collar and pulls until their noses almost touch. Maul can feel Kenobi’s breath on his face when he speaks again. “If the only thing you respect is force, I’ll treat you accordingly.”

Maul can’t say he likes the position this puts him in, but he really likes the anger flashing in Kenobi’s eyes. He smiles. “There. That’s all I wanted to hear.”

He can feel Kenobi’s anger subside a little. The Jedi lets go and takes a step back. “Why?” He seems genuinely confused.

“Because I’ve had enough with you acting like you Jedi are morally superior.”

“Oh, don’t worry. We did a lot of things wrong.” Kenobi sighs. “I did a lot of things wrong.”

No, this won’t do. Maul wanted anger, not sadness. So he shifts gears and shrugs. “You survived and you’re still fighting.”

He can feel Kenobi’s surprise, sees the Jedi throwing him a side glance again. But the next moment, Kenobi’s state of mind shifts to alarm. “Maul, down!”

Then something crashes through the branches above him.


	15. Chapter 15

They’re huge bat-like creatures with sharp teeth and sharp claws. Obi-Wan swats one out of the air with the force. Another one dives at Maul, but the Sith has dropped to the ground, and the claws miss their mark. He’s on his feet again instantly. “More of them. Behind you.”

Obi-Wan turns, hand reaching for his lightsaber. Next to his own weapon hangs Maul’s double bladed one on his belt. He feels a force tug on it, and yes, it’s probably a good idea to let the Sith have his weapon, because there are more winged shadows in the trees. A lot of them.

They both activate their lightsabers at the same time. Then the creatures are over them.

Obi-Wan can feel Maul move at his back, and instinctively, he matches his own movements to the Sith’s, makes sure they always stay back to back.

His weapon paints green glowing circles in the air, and every time it hits it’s mark, one of the animals drops dead to his feet. Behind him, there are screeches of pain, when Maul doesn’t bother cutting precisely and aims more for maiming then putting his opponents out of their misery fast.

Still, Obi-Wan can feel the Sith attune his fighting style to Obi-Wan’s too. It’s surprisingly easy to find a middle ground between their paces, to move as one.

Maul jumps upwards, cuts through two opponents in the air, drops to the ground again between their falling bodies. At once, Obi-Wan moves in, beheads one of the creatures that’s trying to claw at Maul’s back while the Sith is turning to an enemy at his right. Next it’s Obi-Wan who lifts a stone with the force to hurl it into a whole cloud of attackers while Maul impales a creature that was swooping down at Obi-Wan from above.

There are too many of them, though, and none of them can be everywhere at once. The creatures are bound to find a weakness in their defense sooner or later.

“We have to make a run for it!” Obi-Wan yells. “The ship isn’t that far anymore!”

Maul doesn’t answer, but with a force shove he blasts a momentary opening into the clouds of their enemies. Obi-Wan jumps into it at once.

The creatures seem to be everywhere by now. They must’ve stumbled into a nest. Obi-Wan cuts a path for them through the whirling mass of bodies, relies on Maul to watch his back. It doesn’t even occur to him that the later might not be the best idea until they’re almost at the clearing. But the Sith is doing a pretty reliable job. Now and then Obi-Wan sees the red glow of his lightsaber out of the corner of his eyes, hears something die right next to him.

Then they run past the last lines of trees, the beacon that marks the entrance of the ship glowing faintly ahead of them.

“Get the door,” Obi-Wan shouts. “I’ll watch your back.”

With long strides, Maul runs past him, stops at the beacon. Obi-Wan turns to face the swirling mass of their enemies – when there’s the sounds of ripping clothing and sudden pain at his back. He can’t help but scream, but at the same time, he finishes his movement, and the attacking creature drops to the ground cut in two halves.

Obi-Wan takes a deep breath. The pain is bad, but there’s no time for it right now. He focuses on the force, lets himself be engulfed in it to find balance and calm. And he can still feel the pain, but it doesn’t belong to him as much anymore. He shoves a few more creatures away, impales another one on his lightsaber.

“Kenobi!” Maul is standing at the open door. He waits for Obi-Wan to run the last few steps. A few more creatures fall under his lightsaber strikes.

Then they’re inside. The door closes behind them.

For a moment, Obi-Wan just stands there, breathing hard. Maul is doing the same. Slowly, the Sith deactivates both blades of his lightsaber. He turns to Obi-Wan.

He furrows his brows. “You’re injured.”

“I know.” Obi-Wan feels a bit light-headed. He must be loosing a lot of blood. What he’s also losing is his focus, and with that the pain comes back to him. It feels like all of his back is on fire.

With an impatient sound, Maul grabs his arm and pulls him deeper into the ship. He points to one of the chairs by the table. “Sit. I’ll be right back.”

Sitting sounds like a good idea, so Obi-Wan does. All of this clothes are still so wet from the rain that at once there’s a puddle forming around his feet. That really doesn’t help right now.

He can feel every movement in his back, but getting out of the robe is easy enough. The shirt is another matter, though. The wet fabric is sticking to his skin, and he feels like it does so especially in the places where it hurts.

“Wait.” Maul comes back with a medpack. He puts it on the table next to Obi-Wan and opens it, but then he stops and looks down at himself. His own clothes are not just wet, but mud-splattered from where he dropped to the ground. Not exactly the state you’re supposed to be in when you’re treating an open wound.

With another impatient sound, he pulls the shirt over his head and throws it to the ground. Then he takes a pair of scissors from the medpack and steps behind Obi-Wan. With swift movements, he starts cutting away the already torn shirt.

“One of those things got it’s claws in you deep,” he says. “There’s dirt and pieces of fabric in the wound. I have to clean it.”

“Alright.” Obi-Wan takes a deep breath and mentally prepares for pain.

Maul is working mostly in silence and more focussed on being fast than careful. He doesn’t slow down when Obi-Wan hisses in pain, but at least that’ll get it done quicker.

“You fought well,” Obi-Wan says after a while to fill the silence with something. That’s the kind of compliment a Sith would like, right?

“You too,” Maul answers.

The next moment he pulls on something that makes Obi-Wan yell. 

Maul chuckles. He leans over Obi-Wan’s shoulder, and while the pain drops to a more bearably level again, Obi-Wan can feel the Sith’s breath warm on his cheek.

Maul holds something in front of his face. It looks like the broken off tip of a claw, and there’s Obi-Wan’s blood on it. “Do you see those tiny hooks all around it?”

Obi-Wan does now that he focusses on it. No wonder pulling the piece out hurt so much. It’s designed to get stuck in flesh or at least do additional damage when removed. “Next time you have to get something like that out, a warning would be appreciated,” he says.

“Where’d be the fun in that?” Maul’s lips brush his ear when he straightens up again and send a shiver down Obi-Wan’s spine.

So that’s how you get a Sith in an exceptionally good mood. A fight and then an opportunity to inflict pain, mixed with a little bit of flirting. “So glad I can provide entertainment.” Obi-Wan puts as much sarcasm in those words as he can. But all in all Maul has surprised him more positively than negatively today. And right now he _is_ properly tending to Obi-Wan’s wounds, no matter the tiny streak of sadism. Obi-Wan can deal with that. He takes another deep breath and tries to relax while Maul sets to work again.

“There’s another one,” Maul says after a moment. When he continues, there’s a mocking tone in his voice. “Do you want me to count from three?”

Getting a warning at all is nice, but Obi-Wan isn’t in the right mood to appreciate it despite the mocking. “I wouldn’t want to spoil all of your fun,” he shoots back, “if it means that much to –” The sentence ends in a pained gasp when Maul doesn’t even let him finish.

“Appreciated.” The Sith drops another bloody claw on the table next to the med pack.

“You know, I _was_ actually starting to enjoy your company ...” Obi-Wan says.

For a moment, Maul stops. Obi-Wan gets the faint impression of surprise from him. Then the Sith rummages in the medpack again. He finds what he’s looking for and starts dabbing disinfectant on the gashes in Obi-Wan’s back. It stings, but it’s way less bad than pulling out the claws had been.

“You fought more aggressively out there than I’ve seen you fight in a long time,” Maul says after a while. It implies that he had been keeping track of changes in Obi-Wan’s style over the years, and he isn’t sure how to feel about that.

“I was just trying to match your style,” Obi-Wan points out. “Just as you held back a little bit to match mine.”

“I didn’t.” Maul takes the bacta patches from the medpack, and Obi-Wan hears the package of the first one rip. A moment later he can feel the cool soothing touch of bacta on his torn skin. He breathes more freely, while Maul moves on to the next patch.

“If you want to believe that.” Obi-Wan knows what he’s seen and felt, and Maul should know it too, if he’s honest with himself.

Maul’s only answer is a small grunt, so maybe he does know it. He applies the a few more bacta patches to Obi-Wan’s back in silence. “Done.”

Obi-Wan is used to more concerned chatter after getting patched up, but where’s the point? He’s dealt with enough injuries in his life. He knows the drill. Having someone not fuss over it and tell him to take it easy for a while is an actually a nice change.

“Thank you,” he says.

“No need to thank me.” He feels Maul step away from him.

A moment later, Obi-Wan sees out of the corner of his eyes how the Sith starts taking off his boots. They’re mud caked, and the floor is riddled with muddy footprints and puddles. This planet definitely does have too much rain. Obi-Wans own wet boots and the pants that cling to his legs are proof of that too. And he should get rid of both.

Since bending his back might rip open his wounds again, Obi-Wan uses the force to tug his boots from his feet. He’s in the process of shoving the first one away, when he feels Maul watching him. He looks up and straight into yellow eyes.

“My former master would’ve made me suffer for something like that,” Maul says. He sounds amused.

That sounds horrible, but Obi-Wan really isn’t surprised about Sith teaching methods. So he just huffs. “Believe me, in the Jedi temple they weren’t exactly happy about disrespectful use of the force either. But we have a powerful Sith Lord to fight soon, and I’d like my wounds to heal as fast as possible.” He starts tugging on the second boot.

Maul watches for a second longer, then he suddenly strides towards Obi-Wan. He stops in front of him and drops to one knee – and that looks so wrong with him being half naked and wearing a slave collar. Ignoring Obi-Wan’s protests, he pulls the second boot off, puts it next to the first. Then he looks up at Obi-Wan, a slight smile on his lips. “Do you need help with the pants, too?”

Oh, so that’s where this is going. And the offer implied in this question puts more tempting pictures in Obi-Wan’s head than he’d like to admit. He has to clear his throat, before he can speak again. “I think … we have some preparations to make.”

“Sending off the spy drones takes a few minutes, and before we can do that, we have to wait for the right transport to show up.” Maul stays on his knees, looking up at Obi-Wan.

They hadn’t just fought well together today, they’d fought in the kind of harmony that you usually only get with someone you’re close to. Their relationship definitely is a bumpy one, but it’s undeniable that they’re developing some kind of bond. And this is probably all the more reason to keep his distance. But maybe Obi-Wan really had been too lonely on Tatooine, because he doesn’t get the words out that he should say. When the silence stretches on, Maul’s smile gets wider, with a hint of triumph in it. He puts a hand on Obi-Wan’s knee, pushes is slightly to the side while he pushes himself up. A moment later, they’re face to face, Maul’s breath ghosting over Obi-Wan’s skin. He hovers there, as if waiting for permission.

Obi-Wan hesitates a moment longer. He’s not supposed to develop any too deep emotional bonds, but Maul is a Sith. It’s not like there is any way they can get actually romantically involved or anything like that before they clash again. On top of that, turning Maul down might make the situation complicated just as well, so it doesn’t even bring the benefit of avoiding trouble. So why not do what they both want instead?

That’s why Obi-Wan finally closes the distance between them, and their lips meet.

Judging by Maul’s first reaction, hadn’t actually expected that. But as soon as he’s over the surprise, he reciprocates the kiss enthusiastically. One of his hands finds its way into Obi-Wan’s hair, and he pulls to get just the right angle.

Maul’s teeth scrape over Obi-Wan’s lower lip, and before Obi-Wan can finish wondering, if the aggression the Sith carries around with him all the time will have an impact on things like this too, Maul bites down. It’s a careful enough bite that it makes Obi-Wan only gasp in surprise and nothing else, but he’s suddenly very sure that he’s in for an interesting time.

After a moment, he pushes Maul away, though. They almost forgot about something important. “There’s one more thing we have to do first,” he says.

Maul tilts his head in question, clearly impatient now.

“Set the ship computer to giving an alarm as soon as another ship enters the orbit.”

“You could’ve said that before you kissed me,” Maul grumps, obviously not happy about the interruption.

Obi-Wan smiles. He’d only thought of it now, but he won’t admit that. “Where’d be the fun in that?”


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, several things:
> 
> 1\. I might have messed up the "there's only one bed" trope. There really _is_ only one bed, but it didn't go quite as the trope goes. Sorry for that.
> 
> 2\. This story is rated T, so no porn here, but my beta reader prompted me to write something more explicit and there's been some curiosity in the comments about how sex wold even work for Maul. So if you're curious, too, [click here](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23510236).
> 
> 3\. There's emotional drama at the end of this chapter. You have been warned.

Your lower half being that of a cyborg limits the kind of fun you can have with another person quite a bit. But that doesn’t mean that Maul isn’t set on having as much fun as he can. He almost forgets to be careful when he pushes the Jedi against the wall next to the bed. It probably still hurts when Kenobi’s injured back hits the ship’s hull, but apparently not enough that he protests. The Jedi also doesn’t complain about the bite marks Maul leaves down his neck and shoulders.

He himself is more gentle with Maul, though. Or maybe he’s teasing on purpose. It doesn’t take long until Maul doesn’t bother thinking about it much anymore. Instead he just focusses on the touches on his skin, on the other’s gasps and on the way walls are dropping between them. This is almost as good as fighting when it comes to getting peeks behind Kenobi’s wall of calm. It’s also a connection, but very different from the one they’d shared through anger and pain on Tatooine.

They end up lying in bed a few hours later, exhausted. Kenobi is on his belly, since he can’t exactly lie on his back right now, and Maul on his side next to him, head propped up on one hand. His free hand plays with the human’s hair, letting strands of it run through his fingers.

He’s never touched hair before. He knows what the pelts of animals feel like, of course, but Kenobi’s hair is a lot softer than banta fur for example. It’s still a little damp from the rain, and Maul wraps a strand of it around his finger, watches how it stays in a bit of a twirl after he pulls his hand back again.

“I’m not complaining,” Kenobi mumbles after a while, “but what are you doing?”

“I’m curious,” Maul informs him, making a few strands fall into his face.

Kenobi’s hand comes up to brush the hair out of his eyes again. He doesn’t even seem to notice he’s doing it. “Well then … carry on. Mind if I get a bit of sleep in the meantime?”

“Not at all.” The Jedi’s stoic nature can be infuriating sometimes, but it’s also somewhat endearing in the right context. “Sleep well,” Maul adds, just to see what kind of reaction that’ll get him.

Kenobi half opens his eyes again and looks at him suspiciously. “Still not thinking about murdering me in my sleep, are you?”

Maul grins. “Who would I fight Sidious with then?”

“Good point.” The Jedi closes his eyes and shifts a bit into a more comfortable position.

Maul’s grin gets wider. He has to admit, he hasn’t enjoyed himself like this in a very long while.

* * *

Maul hasn’t intended to doze off, but when he wakes up again there’s an arm wrapped around his waist. He isn’t sure how to feel about that, but maybe he can just disentangle himself without waking the Jedi and then not speak of this ever. So he slowly scoots out from underneath the heavy weight.

He doesn’t get far before the force around Kenobi shifts in a way that betrays him being awake. The weight of the arm vanishes a moment later, at the same time as all the Jedi training slams into place too and Maul can’t sense any emotions from Kenobi anymore.

Now that he’s thinking about it, maybe he should speak of this again. It’ll probably bother the Jedi more than him.

He turns to face Kenobi, but before he can say anything, the Jedi speaks: “Maul …”

This will be the morning after regret speech, won’t it? But Maul really doesn’t feel like listening to Kenobi tell him how he’s usually above sleeping with the enemy. So he shoves at the other man’s shoulder, pushes him onto his back. That gets him a pained hiss, but also the opportunity to put his forearm over Kenobi’s chest and lean on it with all his weight to keep him down. “If you say anything about regrets, I will try and kill you again the first opportunity I get.”

For some reason a slow smile spreads on Kenobi’s face. “So you won’t, if I don’t?”

That’s not what Maul expected. For moment he just stays like he is, glaring down at the Jedi.

“What I wanted to say,” Kenobi says after a while, “was about the slave collar.”

Again, very unexpected. Or maybe it isn’t? It makes sense that the collar would make Kenobi even more uncomfortable now and that he might do something sentimental and stupid because of that. Maul shifts his weight, sits up next to Kenobi. “What about it?” He asks carefully. In this case he wouldn’t be against Kenobi doing something sentimental and stupid, even though he would respect the Jedi more, if he didn’t.

“What are your plans after we defeat Sidious?” Kenobi asks instead of an answer. 

“I agreed to not try and get revenge on you,” Maul reminds him.

Kenobi shifts carefully, then puts his arm behind his head to prop it up a little. He does so extra slowly, but the wounds on his back seem to be a lot better already. “Yes, but are you planning on taking your former master’s place?”

Oh, so Kenobi won’t be as sentimental and stupid as Maul had hoped. “I haven’t thought about it yet,” he lies. He has. He could take an apprentice for himself, carry on the legacy of the Sith.

Kenobi eyes him suspiciously. Then he sighs. “I owe you your freedom no matter what you decide. But I’m not fighting to replace one Sith Lord with another Sith Lord.”

Maul had hoped to cross that bridge when they get there. No such luck apparently. “So what you’re saying is you’d really like to give me back my freedom, but sadly, for the good of the galaxy, you can’t. Your hands are tied.” He was aiming for a mocking tone, but it turns bitter half way through. “Convenient.”

“You will get your freedom back,” the Jedi protests. “I’d just …” He pulls a face. “... to use the word you prefer ... keep you a while longer. Once the Republic is reestablished, I’ll take you to a planet of your chosing in the outer rim. And then you’re free. What you do with that freedom is your decision. I’d prefer if it was something nice, but I know that’s not very likely.”

Maul can respect the honesty in this and the decision to not trust baselessly. That doesn’t mean he has to like the whole thing. “Specify ‘a while’,” he says. It’s not like he has a say in this, but if he doesn’t make Kenobi set a time limit, the Jedi won’t even feel bad about keeping him for years to come.

Kenobi thinks. “A year,” he says finally.

That’s less long than Maul expected, but the self-righteousness in all of this is infuriating. The senat had literally handed Sidious the reins, because they’d been too afraid and too busy with internal squabble. But setting something like that up again is better than him on the throne, even though Kenobi doesn’t even know what he’s planning to do there? “If you’re hoping for me to agree with this to make you feel better about it, I won’t. As soon as Sidious is dead, I’ll fight you every step of the way.”

“Fine.” The word is half a sigh. “I just want us both to be clear on where we stand.”

This is morning after regrets in a way, isn’t it? Setting new boundaries now that old ones dropped.

It’s this thought that makes Maul reach out. The bite marks on Kenobi’s shoulders cannot be made undone, no matter how much distance the Jedi tries to put between them now, and Maul runs his fingers over them, as a reminder. Kenobi lets him, even though he watches him with a guarded expression.

“Spending a year with you will at least be fun.” Maul makes sure it sounds like a threat. It’s a year he could use to provoke and tempt.

“Judging by your tone, not quite my idea of fun.”

“If only you had a choice,” Maul mocks.

“I don’t have to guard you myself.”

So far Maul had only been angry about this whole thing. Now there’s cold rage in his belly. And maybe a hint of fear, but he pushes that one away. “Don’t you dare!”

“Maul …” Kenobi starts, but Maul doesn’t let him finish.

“Don’t you dare hand me over to someone else!”

Only when Kenobi grips his wrist, Maul realizes that he’s pressing his fingers into the red imprints of his teeth on the Jedi’s skin.

“Calm down,” Kenobi says. “I didn’t know that was so important to you. I’ll keep you close, just calm down.”

Maul doesn’t even think of calming down. That fucking self-righteous Jedi and and his damn hypocrisy of trying to act like he’s treating him fairly just because he’s too much of a coward to use that slave collar and take what he wants! “If you give anyone else control over me, I’ll hunt you down and kill you slowly and painfully as soon as I get the chance.”

For some reason that threat makes Kenobi smile, even through the guilt that Maul can feel in him. “It almost sounds like you trust me more than others.”

No, that’s not what Maul meant. “You wish!” He spits.

Kenobi opens his mouth for a reply, but at the same time the alarms of the ship go off.

The transport has arrived.

“We need to work together now,” Kenobi says.

He’s right, of course. Maul hates it when he’s right. “Give me your word first,” he demands. It’s not worth much to him, but it’s worth something to the Jedi, he’s sure of that.

“Fine, you have my word that I won’t give anyone else control over you during the time you’re my prisoner.”

That’s not much, but it’s all he’ll get. And his rage is still there, but it has cooled off a little by now. Maul nods. Then he gets up. “What are you waiting for then?”


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know, whenever I try to write something a little bit more fluffy, this is what happens.

Obi-Wan moves his shoulders carefully. There’s still a bit of pain, but not much anymore. The bacta has done good work.

“Here.” Maul throws him a bunch of black clothes that Obi-Wan catches on instinct. He hasn’t brought spares and his shirt is not salvagable anymore, so this is welcome. The remains of his old shirt have been cleaned up by a droid by now, together with all the muddy puddles.

While Obi-Wan dresses in all black he can feel Maul watch him with … interest? Maybe amusement even? The Sith’s mood is still far from good, but it has improved significantly since Obi-Wan has promised him to spend his year of imprisonment with him. Obi-Wan is trying not to reflect on that too closely. He regrets not being able to take off the slave collar right this moment. Leaving it on after what they’d done feels very wrong. But trusting a Sith like that? He isn’t stupid. So he’d looked for a compromise, and that one year had seemed like the best idea.

He hadn’t expected Maul to be happy about it. But that outburst … It had come at an unexpected place.

“Suits you,” Maul says, as soon as Obi-Wan has fastened the last belt buckle.

Obi-Wan decides it’s better not to react to that. “Let’s send out those spy drones then.”

* * *

A day later they’re jumping through hyper space to the location their tracking beacon is indicating to them. As soon as the stars fall back into place, Obi-Wan sees a completely black planet through the ship’s front window. The readings tell him that it’s completely dry, but particles in the atmosphere create static discharges that’ll probably look like lightning on the planet surface. 

“Very sith,” he says.

Maul huffs. “Show some respect, this is older than a lot of your Jedi temples. See that structure down there?”

Obi-Wan calls up the readings that show some kind of gigantic building. “Yes, that doesn’t look recent. So what is Sidious building here?”

“He’s probably just restoring what’s there already.” Maul pulls on his slave collar absentmindedly. He’s taken up doing that whenever he’s thinking. Obi-Wan isn’t sure yet, if he’s doing it intentionally to call attention to the collar or if he doesn’t even realize he’s doing it. “We should hide on the planet surface. That makes us harder to spot than staying in orbit.”

Obi-Wan nods, already checking sensor data again. “There are a lot of fissures in the planet crust. We can find a spot half way down one.” He spots a good place. “There, sending you coordinates.”

Maul sets the course immediately. Even after all their clashes there aren’t many words needed when they’re working together.

That’ll be one of their advantages when they’re fighting Sidious. But Obi-Wan isn’t completely sure, if that’s enough.

* * *

The ship is cloaked and parked on a narrow ledge at the side of a steep stone wall. It has been for several days by now. There’s not much to do for them except for eating and sleeping. Obi-Wan has been catching up on the later, even though they’re taking turns again. Maul has taken up his flirting again, but it’s more aggressively aimed towards making him uncomfortable than before. Obi-Wan is trying to keep his distance, even though it’s pretty obvious that pisses Maul off.

That’s half the reason they also spend lots of time sparring. Or rather Obi-Wan letting Maul work out his anger. Since Sith apparently don’t believe in training weapons they’re using their lightsabers for it. Half the time Obi-Wan is very convinced that Maul wouldn’t stop his strikes, if he got through his defence, so he makes sure to take their fights seriously. By now he knows most of Maul’s attack patterns by heart and could probably dodge and block them in his sleep.

“You have a tell,” he says one day when they’re circling each other on the black stone ledge.

Maul tilts his head in question, double bladed lightsaber pointing with the forward blade downwards right now, but ready to attack.

“You shift your weight a little bit too early when you attack. I can tell from your footwork where you’re going to be in a second. Most of the time you make up for it with speed, but your speed would give you a greater advantage, if you –”

Maul’s next attack comes from an unexpected angle. Obi-Wan sees it a moment too late. Maul swats his lightsaber away, and then the red blade hums inches from Obi-Wan’s heart.

“Better?”

As soon as the adrenalin surge ebbs away, Obi-Wan smiles. So Maul _can_ stop his strikes in time. That’s nice to know. “Better,” he says.

“You always dodge away from your opponent, by the way,” Maul starts after a while. “Why not dodge towards them? Hit them while they’re still confused why they didn’t hit you.”

“Risky,” Obi-Wan says.

Maul scoff. “No, look.” He shifts his stance. “Attack me.”

They fall into teaching each other just like that. Obi-Wan only really notices when a day later he tells Maul to let the force guide him and gets a funny look.

“You do realize I’m neither your padawan nor a fellow Jedi?”

Yes, he really should’ve kept that in the front of his mind instead of shoving it to the back. “Forget what I said.”

That gets him a flash of teeth from Maul. “No, go ahead, please. I think I still owe you an explanation of the Sith code in return.”

Well, Obi-Wan has to admit that he started this. And now that he thinks about it, maybe they should have another talk about philosophy. “You know what I’d actually be interested in?”

Maul gives him that curious head tilt again that he’s started doing ever since they started teaching each other.

“Learning about all the mind games a Sith like Sidious would play on his enemies. I underestimated him once. It lead to him turning Anakin. He’ll try and pit us against each other. If we let him do that, we shouldn’t even bother trying to fight him.”

Maul gives him a thoughtful look. After a moment he nods. “Let’s go sit somewhere comfortable then.” With that he turns back to the ship.


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This update is late! But it's still the right day here. Barely ...
> 
> Also, we're nearing the end of the story. Just a few more chapters.

A few days later, Maul is sneaking through gloomy corridors of an obviously very ancient Sith palace. Sidious’ shuttle has arrived an hour before, and Maul can feel his old master’s presence somewhere deeper inside the building. He’s doing his best to hide his own, but he’s not kidding himself. You don’t catch a Sith Lord like Sidious by surprise. Ever.

Kenobi isn’t far behind him, and Maul has to think about that talk they had a while back. The one about mind games.

_”He’ll take every bit of guilt you feel, every insecurity, every secret fear, drag it out in the open and make you focus on it,” he’d said. “And then he’ll find someone to blame for it, and he’ll try and direct your anger at them, not him.”_

_Kenobi had looked at him thoughtfully. “And between us there’s a lot he can use.”_

Maul presses against the wall next to the corner at the end of the hallway and risks a glance around it. While he does so, his hand comes up automatically, pulls on the slave collar around his neck.

“All clear,” he whispers after a moment, pushes off the wall to move forward.

Kenobi follows.

_“Between us, we both know where we stand. You’ve made yourself perfectly clear, after all.”_

_“And you’re fine with the status quo?” Kenobi had asked_

_“I won’t fight it until Sidious is dead.”_

_“For what it’s worth, I wish the collar wasn’t necessary.”_

_“That’s not worth much.”  
_

The big doors to the room Maul can feel Sidious’ presence in are askew, half broken out of their hinges. They look like they’ve been like that for eternities, dust settling on them while they’re waiting to be fixed.

The dark side is strong in the room behind them, and when Maul glances back towards the Jedi, Kenobi looks very ill at ease. To Maul the energies ahead of them feel invigorating, but Kenobi is probably dying a little inside with every step he takes. Still, he takes position at one side of the door while Maul presses to the wall at the other.

_”I think the best thing we can do is to trust that we really will wait to deal with all of our differences until after this fight,” Kenobi had said._

_“I hate him more than I hate you. My priorities are set. What about you?”_

_“From my point of view he is the larger threat no matter what you decide later. Also, I can feel your hatred for him. I guess I can trust in that.”_

Maul still isn’t sure, if that has been a lie.

A careful glance shows him a huge hall. Statues might have served as pillars once, but most of them are broken. There’s been a scaffolding put up around some of them, and Maul can see figures moving, working on repairing things. But the glint of metal around their necks tells him that they’re slaves and won’t interfere with the fight to come. The only people of interest are standing in the middle of of the room. A figure in a dark robe, and around him four guards in red. Just four.

Near the entry lies the torso of a broken statue, and when Maul looks back to Kenobi again, the Jedi points there. Maul nods, then they both slink into the room.

A moment later they’re covering behind the broken statue next to each other.

“We should attack from two sides,” Kenobi says. “Both of us take two guards out. Then we hit hard. We can’t leave him time to react.”

Maul nods. “You almost sound like a Sith by now.”

“That’s really not what I needed to hear at the moment.”

Still with the double standards. Right now, though, Maul really doesn’t want to weaken Kenobi’s connection to the force. “Force of habit.” He shrugs. “Are you ready?”

“Ready. Let’s go.”

With that he disappears into the gloom of the big room. Maul does the same in the other direction.

This is it then. There is no turning back anymore. They’ll either win or die.


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm late again, but it is here now! Fight against Sidious!

He’d known that fighting Sidious wouldn’t be easy. Better Jedi had failed to defeat him after all. Still, Obi-Wan feels like he’s back to being a padawan while he focuses everything he has on blocking a bolt of lightning with his lightsaber. From underneath his hood, Sidious is grinning at him triumphantly. “This place belongs to the dark side,” the Emperor says. “You’re weak here, Jedi.”

The next moment he’s forced to jump back when Maul’s lightsaber slices down towards him. That’s satisfying to watch at least. But the Sith Lord is gone already, just as easy to hit as mist.

He lifts his arms, and Obi-Wan can hear the stone of the ceiling crack high above them. He knows what is happening, so he doesn’t bother looking up. He just charges again, trying to use the small window where not all of Sidious’ attention is on him.

Half way it occurs to him that he’s fighting more recklessly than he usually would. Maybe Maul is rubbing off on him.

He feels the danger a bit too late. This place makes it hard to let the force guide him, so he only notices the piece of ceiling falling down when it’s almost on top of him.

A force blast wooshes past him, and the stone smashes into the far wall instead. Obi-Wan doesn’t have to look around to know Maul just saved his life. It’s weird but also comforting that the Sith really has his back.

Obi-Wan’s lightsaber gets blocked by Sidious. Then Maul is there too. It’s easy to fall into a pattern, one of them always striking when the attention of their opponent is on the other one. Sidious blocks every strike, though. He cackles. “How deep you’ve fallen, my former apprentice. A slave to a Jedi now.”

Maul’s lips pull back in a silent snarl, and his next attack makes sparks fly.

“If that’s what you aspire to be, I can offer you a place between my workers.”

Obi-Wan can almost bodily feel Maul’s rage. That’s exactly what he had feared would happen. Now he can only hope that what Maul had said was true, that it is enough that they both know where they’re standing. Apart from that Obi-Wan just has to focus on the goal. To win so the galaxy can be a safer place.

His lightsaber slices through black cloth and grazes wrinkly skin. Sidious screams, stares at the wound in his arm.

On his other side Maul swings his lightsaber for the killing blow.

Before it can hit, lightning throws him off his feet and against a broken statue. The next moment, a wave of agony rolls over Obi-Wan. He’s vaguely aware of being pushed back and his lightsaber flying from his grip. He hits something hard, but he only regains his senses completely when he slides down whatever he’s hit and drops to the floor.

Instinctively he keeps moving. If you stay still, you just give the enemy an opportunity to hit you. He dives behind the pillar he’s crashed against and feels lightning crackle over his head. With the back to the stone, he takes a moment to catch his breath.

Obi-Wan spots Maul across the room behind a different pillar. Parts of his clothes are torn and burned and he’s leaning against the stones as if he needs the support. Most worrying is, though, that Sidious is slowly walking towards where Maul is hiding.

Obi-Wan looks around for his lightsaber. He finds it on the floor between a bit of rubble. He focuses on the position, then he starts running. A leap, a force pull, and he catches his weapon mid air, has it activated and ready by the time he’s close enough to Sidious’ back to strike.

The Sith whirls around way too fast for a man his age and catches the strike with his own blade.

“Interesting.” He grins at Obi-Wan. “Is that worry I sense? Don’t say you care for my former apprentice.”

“It’s called compassion, you wouldn’t know it.” As soon as he says it, Obi-Wan knows it’s a lie. But he can’t allow Sidious to get to him, so he shoves all thoughts about it far back in his mind, attacks again instead. He has to keep their opponent busy long enough for Maul to catch his breath.

Maul is there again a moment later. But his attack is slow, and Sidious blocks it easily. Now that he’s closer, Obi-Wan can see that Maul’s shirt is not only torn, but also sticking to his side in a way that implicates it might be blood soaked. Hard to tell with black clothing. And it’s not like Obi-Wan has much time to look. He rushes into another attack to keep Sidious off Maul.

They need something to turn this fight around or they’ll lose. The next time Maul is keeping Sidious busy, Obi-Wan grabs a huge boulder with the force and hurls it at their opponent.

It hits, taking Sidious with it. But as if the Sith Lord has sensed Obi-Wan’s rising hope, the stone explodes in lightning the next minute. Sidious lands on his feet, stones pieces raining down around him. The next second a wave of lightning rushes towards them.

Maul pulls Obi-Wan into cover, and for a moment they just stand there, pressed against the broken statue.

“It feels like he’s getting more powerful with every minute,” Obi-Wan pants.

Maul nods, holding his side, breathing hard. Obi-Wan can feel his pain almost bodily, just as he does with his anger. The dark side is practically boiling around Maul. “He will die, though. I won’t let him get away again.”

“You’re injured. Maybe a change of plans is better.”

All of Maul’s anger suddenly focusses on him. “I’m not taking orders from you! I will kill him or I’ll die trying.”

So Sidious has gotten to him about being a slave. And there’s not much arguing with a Sith in this state, but Obi-Wan tries anyway. “Listen, we can trap him here. He came in a single small ship and not many people even know where he is. If we destroy the ship, he’d have to wait for the next transport to arrive. We have time to regroup and come up with a better plan.”

“He will die!” Maul’s eyes are blazing with hatred. He grips his lightsaber tighter, then he moves to leave their cover. On the other side of it, Obi-Wan senses Sidious coming closer again.

He grabs Maul’s shoulder. “The only one who will die is you!”

“We’ll see about that!” Angrily, Maul pushes his hand away.

No! Obi-Wan knows he shouldn’t care so much, but right now he doesn’t care much that he cares. All he knows is that he can’t lose another friend – or whatever they are. So he pulls the remote for the slave collar out of his pocket.

Maul freezes. Murder flashes in his eyes. “I’ll kill you too, if I have to.”

Maybe the old Obi-Wan would’ve done it. The one who was too focussed on cutting corners to reach his goals. He would’ve found some kind of justification for it. But now Obi-Wan shakes his head. He rests the remote on his open palm and extends it towards Maul. “You’re not my slave and the decision is up to you. And if you decide to fight, I’ll fight with you, because I promised we’d fight him together and I’ll keep my word. But retreat with me now, and I’ll promise you, we’ll fight him together again later. Maybe we can set up a trap when he comes after us.”

Surprise shatters Maul’s rage just enough that Obi-Wan is hopeful he might actually listen. “You really want us to run.”

“You told me a while ago that only a coward choses death over suffering. Not running is death.”

For a moment, Maul just looks between the remote and Obi-Wan’s face. Obi-Wan can feel his anger subside a little.

Then lightning crashes down between them.

Obi-Wan wraps his fingers tightly around the remote again while jumping back. The last thing he wants is that thing falling into the Emperor's hands. He force-hurls another stone in the direction where he senses Sidious, then he looks around for Maul. The Sith is just getting to his feet again, looking like he’s about to lunge into another attack.

“Maul, please! You have my word!”

Maul looks between him and Sidious for a moment, hesitates. Then he turns and runs. “Come on, Kenobi, keep up!”


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I remembered this time! Also, this is the second to last chapter.

Every fibre in Maul’s body is screaming for him to turn around and face his enemy. Empty Jedi promises shouldn’t make him abandon this opportunity for revenge so fast. But Kenobi’s promises hadn’t been empty, had they? He could’ve forced Maul to turn tail and run. He hadn’t. He could’ve abandoned Maul to die. He hadn’t.

Kenobi had actually stuck to his principles and to his word, and even though Maul thinks that was unbelievably stupid, he also can’t help but respect it. On top of that it means that in a way … to an extend … he trusts the Jedi. For now.

He ignores the pain in his side and runs as fast as he can run. Lightning crackles behind them. Hopefully they can actually shake Sidious. Otherwise all of this would’ve been in vain. They need a way to slow his former master down.

He stops. “Kenobi, help me collapse the corridor!”

Kenobi doesn’t hesitate. He turns to combine his strength with Maul’s. It’s weird working with a light side user. If they intertwine their powers too closely, it’s like trying to match the pace of a steady flowing river with that of a storm tide. But in the end they just both pick a part of the ceiling and pull.

Stones crash down right when Sidious appears in Maul’s view.

Maul turns to start running again instantly. This won’t buy them much time. On top of that, now that his anger slowly fades away, he starts feeling the injury in his side more. When Sidious had flung him against the statue, he’d hit something sharp. He’s pretty sure he’d heard it scrape over his ribs, even though none of them seem to be broken. He presses his hand against the wound and forces himself to move through the pain.

Kenobi is running down the path that leads to the landing pad with Sidious’ ship. Only droids are standing guard there. They fall under the Jedi’s lightsaber and get pushed off the edge with the force.

“I’ll activate the ship’s self destruct,” Kenobi says. “You stand guard.”

Usually Maul would argue, but right now he has to admit the Jedi can move faster than him. So he just stands next to the ship, looking back to the old Sith temple where he can still feel Sidious’ anger. His old master is still quite a bit behind them.

Maul pulls on the slave collar while he waits. Maybe he’s stupid too. What if Kenobi redecides once they’re back at their ship? He isn’t free yet.

Kenobi storms out of the ship’s door again, and there’s no time for brooding anymore. “Run!”

* * *

When they reach their own ship, Maul is almost sure they managed to shake Sidious. You can never be completely sure with his old master, of course, but they might have enough time to heal and come up with a new plan.

When they enter the small room they’ve lived in for quite a while by now, Kenobi walks over to the table and steadies himself on it to catch his breath. He doesn’t speak for a while.

“Thank you,” he says finally. “For listening to me.”

“Just do what you promised,” Maul demands. He doesn’t want thanks, he wants his freedom back.

Kenobi nods. He straightens up and pulls the remote from his pocket. Maul watches him closely, not trusting that this will actually happen until it has actually happened. Even knowing Kenobi and how important his moral highground is to the Jedi, he has a hard time not expecting to be electro shocked any minute now and mocked for trusting at all.

Instead, Kenobi walks up to him and pulls on the collar to turn the locking mechanism his way. His breath ghosts over Maul’s cheek while he presses the remote and his thumb against the lock. It clicks open and the collar drops to the ground.

When Kenobi moves to take a step back, Maul grabs his arm to keep him close. The Jedi turns his head a little to look at him questioningly, bringing them face to face.

“So,” Maul starts, “what about your plan of giving your new Republic a little head start once we defeat Sidious?”

“You’re more reasonable than I was giving you credit for,” Kenobi says. “I think we can sit down and talk later. Reach an agreement.” He shrugs. “And if we don’t, we can still go back to being enemies then. See who wins the next fight. But I want to at least try and trust you. You saved my life back there. Again.”

At least the Jedi is setting his expectations realistically. “So glad to hear a one year vacation with you isn’t completely out of the question yet,” Maul snarks.

That makes amusement spark in Kenobi’s eyes. “You can also just come visit me, you know. I live on Tatooine these days.”

That is unexpected, but it dissolves the remnants of Maul’s anger about having to run. “Tatooine, really? You had the whole galaxy to pick from and you chose Tatooine.”

“Must be all the good memories,” Kenobi shoots back.

Maul chuckles. “I didn’t know the first time we met was that important to you,” he mocks. Then he leans forward. Slowly so the Jedi can back away, if he wants. But Kenobi stays where he is until their lips touch. It’s not a long or deep kiss, just Maul testing if he can get away with it now that the dynamic between them has shifted again.

At least it starts like that. Then Kenobi’s hand wanders to the back of Maul’s neck and he pulls him closer, deepens the kiss. It’s a heady thing mixed with Maul not having come down from the adrenalin high of the fight yet and the triumph of being free again.

When Kenobi’s other hand gets too close to the blood soaked parts of Maul’s shirt, though, and touches on a bit of burned skin, Maul can’t completely suppress a sound of pain.

Kenobi breaks the kiss and backs away a little. “Let’s get you patched up,” he says. “Sidious will find us eventually, and we should make sure to have a trap ready for him by then.”

Maul can’t be too mad about their make-out session being cut short, if there’s traps and murder in the future instead. “You’d really make a fine Sith, Kenobi.”

Kenobi turns away with a grump, starts rummaging around the ship for a medpack. Maul sets to the task of getting his torn shirt off his wound.

“It’s Obi-Wan,” Kenobi says unexpectedly.

“What?” Maul looks up from where he’s been pulling on blood soaked fabric.

The Jedi is looking at him, medpack in hand now. “My name,” he says. “Kenobi is what my enemies and people under my command call me.”

Maul opens his mouth to mock the gesture. It’s such a sentimental thing to do. But he can’t quite bring himself to actually say something. He might even be willing to sit down with the Jedi later to have that reasonable talk he wants to have. In the very least he really wants to drop by Tatooine for another night of shared pleasure at some point, and he’d rather not do that as a prisoner.

And in the more near future, he wants to fight at Kenobi’s side and finally get his revenge. Feel that connection between them when they’re synching their attacks, both focusing on nothing but the moment.

“Obi-Wan,” he says after a moment.

The Jedi smiles. “No scathing comment? I’m shocked.”

“I’m sure I can think of one, if it makes you happy.”

“No, this is fine. Now get your shirt off already. Or do you need help with that?”

Sidious lying dead to his feet is really not the only thing Maul is looking forward to anymore.


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is! The last chapter. It is done.

_Years later_

The nights on Tatooine are cold, and Obi-Wan scoots closer to the fire near the small hut he calls his home. It’s been years since Exegol where they’d lost their fight twice and where they’d run twice. They haven’t defeated Sidious yet, but the rebellion is going strong, slowly winning back the galaxy. It’s taken a while for them to trust Maul, and some of them probably never will. Obi-Wan’s word was enough for most of them, though. And so far the Sith has always listened when Obi-Wan has asked him to retreat. So far Obi-Wan has always obliged Maul when he’s asked him to pick up the fight again.

Sometimes Obi-Wan thinks it might never end. But there’s hope.

“Imagine you’d be stuck on this planet without anything to do.” Maul steps into the light of the fire. “I’d almost feel sorry for you.”

Obi-Wan gets up and smiles. “How was your trip?”

“The witches of Dathomir are on the side of the rebellion now. Provided Ackbar and some others can stop accusing them of wanting to backstab us at the first opportunity, it’ll even stay that way. For a while.”

“So what you’re saying is they are going to backstab us eventually.” Obi-Wan walks around the fire until he’s in front of Maul.

“They’re always on their own side, but they hate Sidious as much as me.” One of Maul’s hands comes up, and he cards his fingers through Obi-Wan’s hair. He likes doing that.

Obi-Wan sighs. “I guess we’ll deal with that problem when we get to it then.”

Maul chuckles. “So the same as with me.”

“No.” Obi-Wan pulls him in closer. “I’ll deal with you right away. You’ve been gone for a while.”

“You missed me.” As always there’s a hint of mockery in Maul’s tone, but by now it feels like he’s doing that more for old time’s sake. At the same time the Sith leans forward, and everything else Obi-Wan was about to say gets swallowed in a kiss.

Obi-Wan still isn’t sure what’ll happen once they defeat the Emperor. Maybe Maul will betray him after all. He’s never stopped being Sith, and there’s always so much anger in him, even when it’s covered by happiness for a while.

Maybe at some point they’ll meet out here again and one will kill the other. All good things have to come to an end eventually, after all. But by the way the war is going, slowly but steadily, it might be quite a while until they find out. And until then Obi-Wan is going to enjoy what they have.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies to everyone who was hoping they'd defeat Sidious. I didn't want to change canon that much. Plus, I really like the idea of Maul working with the rebels. I might write something about that at some point, but there are so many characters and events to keep track of, it looks like a lot of work.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the story!


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